Luther, the reformer

¥ram Ihr ttbranj of

JlrnfrBBur Srntamin iBrprkinnftgr IHarftrlb

Srqupathfh Inj htm to

thr ttbrary uf

^1?**?n*r** nihi>.iinniral g^rmtnarn

BR 325 .H39 1898

^f^:/^^^les Ebert, 1851-
1934.

Luther, the reformer

LUTHER, THE REFORMER,

BY

CHARLES eThAY, D.D,

PHILADELPHIA :
LUTHERAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY.

Copyright, 1898,

BY

TIIK MTIIEUAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY.

Xutbcr, tbc "Kctormcr.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PERIOD I.

Prepa RATION von Action.

A. I). 14s:}-1.j17.

PAGE

Chapter I. Boyliood •')

" II. Early Student I ):i.vs 11

•' 111. Advanced Studies 11

" IV. Monastery Life 1'.)

V. I'rofessorship at Wittenberg 21

PERIOD II.

Assertion of Puinciples.

A. I). 1517-1521.

Chapter I. The ("all to Action 32

II. The Hold ( hallenge 'M>

III. Aiic^ry Responses 10

IV. Taticnt Lalmr ... 43

V. A r.rowheating Cardinal 46

VI. Milder Measures 52

VII. Public Debate 56

VIII. Open Enmity 64

IX. Ericnds New and Old 67

X. .\ Tirelt>S!4 Pen 72

XI. The Papal Hull 77

XII. The Hero at Worms 79

(iii)

IV CONTENTS.

PERIOD III.

Practical Keformation.
A. I). l.VJl-154r,.

PAGE

( Iwiplrr I. TIk" Wartlturj; Kxilc 85

" II. A TfmiK>st Siilktl 90

*• III. Iii-m-\vi(i .Vrtivity at WiltLMjlKTK .... 95

" IV. KxtiiKliiiK' Infhunce 99

V. TIr- (Hil Kiu-my 104

\I. Faltcrinj,' AUii-s 109

" VII. Ka^iiiK Peasants 11 j

•' VIII. n«.ly Ii<.iuls 121

" IX. Hi'Mtr^'-aiiiz-iiion of the Churt-h 125

X. Political Kvcnl.<* 131

•' XI. i'ersonal AiUitiions Pio

•' XII. Thi' SacniiiKtiUii (oiitroversy 137

" XIII. Lutlur ami ZwiiiKli 142

" XIV. The I^ravc- I'rotcst 14G

" XV. The Marburg ('<»llo{juy 151

" XVI. Prei»aring to Meet the Emperor 157

" XVII. A Second Imprisonment 101

•• XVIII. The(Jreat (Vmft^Mon PIS

•• XIX. \Var-<loij(ls Staye<l 172

*' XX. Harmony among Brethren 17G

" XXI. Parhyiiig with the Papists ISO

'• XXII. Standard of .Monility ISG

•• XXIII. Home Life I'.'I

•*XXIV. Sicknejss and Death I'JG

LUTIIKK, THE KKFUKMER

PERIOD I.

PREPARATION FOR ACTION. A. D. 1483-1517.

CHAPTER I.

BOYHOOD.

KvKN ^vlK'n at the sumnnt of his renown,
Lilt 1m r never hesitated to aeknowh'd.L^e his hum-
ble origin. His aneestors for several generations
"vvere sini])le peasants — not paupers, however, hut
owners of the soil whose cultivation furnished
them a modest livelihood. His father, Hans
Luder (Lothar: leader), engaged also in mining
in the vicinity of his xineestral home, Mohra, on
the horder of the Thuringian forest, hut soon
after his marriage removed witli his young wife,
Margaret (Ziegler), to Eisleben, in search of
steadier employment. Here, on Nov. lOtli, 14<S3,
they greeted with delight their tirst-horn child,
who was baptized on tlie same day in St. Peter's
church, receiving the name Martin, it being the
anniversary of that saint in the Church's calendar.

Six months later, the family settled ])erma-
nently in the town of Mansfeld, a few miles dis-
tant, where the father was shortly afterwards en-
abled to rent two smelting furnaces, and gradually
improved his temporal circumstances. We find

6

liiin a few yt^an? later f>eeupyinp a repponsilJc po-
sition in the villajri" and its eonjrrejration. He was
a stunly son of the Cliurch, faithful in ohservinj;
all its appointed ordinances, hut withal linn in
maintaining; his jKTsonal eon\ietions. His wife
was niodt-st in demeanor, cariust in her j>iety and
mueh given to prayer, lioth were sineenly de-
votcnl to the welfare of their children, altli<>ugh
excessively stern in the exercise of discipline.
They resolved to give their son the advantage of
a liheml education, and prepare him for the prac-
tice of law.

Young Martin accordingly entered tlic village
school at a very early age. His treatment licro
exciidcil in severity that which he had received at
home. He was iuatcn fifteen times in one morn-
ing, as he himself relate s, for failing to recite what
liad not heen taught him. He was speaking from
experience when he afterwards descrihed tho
schoolmasters of that time as tyrants and execu-
tioners, from whom nothing was learned in spite
of stripes, tren)l)ling, terror and tears.

It was thus in a sechided, narrow valley of the
Harz Mountains, in the very centre of Ger-
many, that the early years of the great Re-
former were spent. He was here in daily contact
with nature and with the sim]>le-minded (lennan
I)easantry, phiin in their manners, hlunt in
speech, hut distinguished hy native honesty and
devoutness of spirit. He was one of them, and
even in his maturer years always felt perfectly at
liome in his heloved Mansfeld. He is descrihed
l»y one of his most intimate associates as a
merry, romping boy, fond of companionshij).
His natural (iisjtosjtion may he clearly enough in-
ferred from the originality and vivacity of his
'"'■'d '" 1 ''' r v.-ars, from his ke(»n delight in the

BOYHOOD. 7

works of naturi', and from the unfailin*,' Ijiunor
wliith marks liis iitttranccs even amid the severest
trials and most exhausting lahors.

The poverty of liis parents and the rigor of
the discipline to whi(.h he was subjected seriously
afrectt'd liis native buoyancy of spirit. He grew
ex<H'e<hngly timid, and his conscience became so
Sensitive that he constantly uitbraided liimself for
the slightest, and often for mere imaginary
otfences.

For the distress of mind which was thus occa-
sioned, tlie religious teaching of the day afforded
no real relief. Children were, indeed, taught the
Lord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed and the Ten
Connnandment.s. On festival days the congrega-
tions joined in the singing of certain appropriate
hynms, and there was some preaching in the lan-
guage of the ])eople. Luther always gratefully
acknowledged the benefits whicli he had thus re-
ceived. But the scriptural truth presented in
these ways was almost lost sight of in the great
mass of outward ceremonies and idle fancies.

There was a growing tendency to saint-wor-
ship, whicli threatened to leave no place for sim-
]>le faith in Christ as the divine Redt emer in whom
is revealed the fulness of the Father's love and
mercy. Cireater contidence was felt in the sup-
pose(^l more tender love of the Virgin Mary, who
was addressed as the "Mother of God," and im-
plored to intercede for her petitioners with her
kSon, who was regarded as a stern judge and ruler.
At the very time of Lutli(T's boyhood, it })ecame
a po])ular custom, ])articularly among the hardy
mountaineers of that part of (lermany, to address
prayers especially to Anna, the mother of the Vir-
gin Mary; and the countless hosts (»f minor saints
were parceled out as the patrons of particular

8 LVTIIEK, THE REFORMER.

Icx'alitii'S, cluirches, persons or occupations. The
minils of the younjj were IiIUmI with legends of the
Faints, some of wliich were really jmthetic or jxx^tic
in character, hut the j^reat mass of which were
mere empty, silly tales.

There privaihd amon^ the common people of
that ilay an implicit belief in witchcraft. Kvil
spirits were suppostvl to he eonslaiiily attive in
inllicting injuries upon cattle, crops and human
being's, sending sickness, storms, hail, etc.
Luther's own mother liveil in constant dread of a
neighbor whom she accused of bewitching her
children, making them cry themselves almost to
death. Thus the imagination of the lad wa.s
storetl with frightful forms, and a dark cloud of
ever-threatening calamity overshadowed his early
life.

pompous processions were used to imi)ress the
minds of the multitude with the majesty of the
Church, and vast multitudes were induceil to join
in pilgrimages to suj>])oseil sacred places, bearing
oiTerings for various images or relics (^f ancient
saints which were said to be endowed with mirac-
ulous healing i)ower.

Even when the Lord's Prayer, Creed, etc., were
taught by the monks or priests, there was no at-
tempt to lay stress upon the sjiiritual truth which
they contain, but the whole aim was to bring the
rising generation into absolute submission to the
ordinances of the Church. It was particularly
insisted, that all who desire to be saved must appear
at least once a year before the j)riest, confess to
him all their sins, receive from him al>solution, or
the assurance of pardon, and have such j)enances
imposed upon them as the regulations of the
Church might re«|uire. These penances were ex-
eni-<-^<'f \:iri(,iw Ivlti.l^ vii.l, :m particular praycFS

BOYHOOD. 9

ropoatctl a certain iniinbrr of times, pilp^rimapcs,
fasts, etc., and it was tauf^ht tliat only by a con-
scientious fulfilment of these could the demands
of a righteous (Jod he satisfied and His favor en-
joyed. \\'hoever failed in strictest obedience to
these re<iuirements would at death be cast into the
fires of purgatory, tliere to remain until the meas-
ure of his auMiiy should sulliciently atone for his
6hortcomin«:s.

It was taught tliat a higher degree of morality
and sanctity than ])()ssible under the ordinary
conditions of life might be attained by the renun-
ciation of marriage, and the surrender of all
earthly ])roperty and personal independence.
Some eagerly embraced the opi)ortunity thus af-
forded to gain rrpute fur ]'iety, assuming the three-
fold vow of poverty, chastity (so-called) and
obedience (to superi(»rs in the Church). Others
enteral ui)on the monastic life to escape the nec-
essity of earning for themselves an honest liveli-
hood. But there were always many who sincerely
sought, by enduring the i)rivations and discharg-
ing the exacting duties imposed upon them by
this cruel system, to gain the favor of God and
secure true peace of conscience.

It was in a religious atmos])here thoroughly per-
meated with these false ideas that the childhood
of Luther was j»assed. His sus(e}>tilile nature was
readily moulded by them; but he could discover
in them nowhere an answer to the deepest yearn-
ings of his heart. The home of his youth could
afford neither counsel nor sympathy where both
were so sorely needed.

To the Church and its ordinances alone could he
l<K)k for help. His whole training had tended to
cultivate a deep resjteet for its authority. There
was, indeed, a growing tendency among the com-

10 LUTIIEK, TIIK HEFOHMER.

mon people to make merry over tlie inconsistent
lives (»f tlie monks and prii'sts, while eiirnest
nunds were cKeply jzrieved l»y tlu' notorious abuses
which were tolerate<l, and even encoura«:ed, l)y
the Church. But in the secluded re^'ion in which
Luther live<l, these ahuscs had not become so
glaring as in many i)laces, and his jiarciits and
their a.«sociat»s at Mansfcld nmaintd Iminblc and
zcalnus subjects of the tHclesiaftical government
under whieli they had always live<l. Whatever
suspicions may liave been excited in their own
minds must have been carefully concealed from
their children, whom they sought to rear in un-
questioning faith in that Church with whicli, in
their view, w:ls inse]»arably associated the whole
divine j)lan of salvation. Yet how little encour-
agement was to be hoped for fnan this ijuarter,
may be inferred from what has l)een already said.
Against all the sombre iniluences of his early
years the strong, hopeful nature of this boy
bravely struggled. NW- have no evidence that In*
became morose, or gave any hint of the inward
struggles which he silently endured. He dutifully
accepted the calling which his father had marke«l
(»ut for him and sought to make the best use of the
meagre educational advantiigcs at lirst alTorded
him.

r-TIAlTKrv TT.

EAKLY STLDKNT DAYS.

When fourteen years of a<re, T utlier liad ac-
quired all the knowledge to ])e obtained in the
sc-hool at Mansftld. lie was then, in l')U7, sent
to a school in Magdeburg, in liiLdi niiutc for its
cultivati(»n of the Latin lan<;ua^'e and literature,
and for the prohity of its instructors, who l)clon«red
to a society of pious priests known as the "Null
Brethren." Of his studies here, we have no
record.

Sufferinj]^ on one occasion from a burning fever,
the use of water was strietly ])rohil)it(d. \\'at<h-
in<r his oj^portunity, he sli])])('d down stairs and
drank a wlmle ])iteherful. The fever was ])roken
and he (piickly recovered. This is the llrst re-
corded illustration of the Reformer's inde]tendencc
of character, and furnishes a striking^ ])icture of
the eagerness with which liis thirsting spirit after-
ward (juafTcd the living water forbidden by the
religions doctors of tlie day.

Magdeburg was a ilourishing city of forty thou-
sand inhabitants, and the young student was here
for the first time brought into contact with the
busy life of the coinnnniMl w(»rld. This must
have exerted a broadening influence upon him,
but the only incidents of the ])eriod which he has
deemed worthy of record clearly indicate what
was then already the bent of his mind.

.\ prince of Anhalt who, having surrcndtn^l
bis patrimony, had for twenty-five years subj<'cted
himself to tiie most riu'id ascetic discipline and

(11)

IJ LITIIEU, THK HEFORMER.

was wastoil to a more skeleton, passe<l through the
streets of the eity liare-footol, iniserahly clad ami
bowed to the earth lu'iicath a lu-avv hiirdoii.
Luther was stirn»d to unhounded admiration, and
severely upbraided himself for the worldHnt'Ss of
his own life.

Somewhere, }>rol>al»ly upon a panel in one of
the numerous churches, he saw a ]»aintinp: of a
great ship repn-senting tln' ( atholie Church sail-
ini; for the ci'lestial port. On l>oard were the Pope
and cardinals with a j^oodly numht-r of bishops.
The crew consisted of priests and monks, and the
Holy Ghost was the j)ilot. Stru^jrling in the
waters were a host of ]>oor laymen, some just sink-
ing, and others desperately clinging to roj)es
thrown from the ship and afTording the only hope
of salvation. As he gazed in horror, his soul
yearned to share the security of the holy mc^n on
board, among whom, however, not a single lay-
man was to be seen.

In the following year he entered an excellent
school in Eisenach, where some relatives of his
mother resided, with whom he was probably able
to live more cheaply than among strangers. They
were, however, themselves in moderate circum-
stances, and he was comjx'lled also to help him-
self, which he did by singing in comjiany with a
circle of his school friends uj)on the streets of
Kisenach and in the surrounding country, receiv-
ing in retm-n small contributions of money from
benevolent burghers. Upon one occasion of this
character, the fervor with which he sang the de-
vout hyinns selected attracted the attention of a
refined* and wealthy lady, Madam Ursula Cotta,
who invited him \n her table and p( r.-iKidrd him
to make fre(|Uent visits to her home. This kind-
ness was an inealeuhihle blessing to the lonely

EARLY STUDENT DAYS. 13

hoy. It sootiicd his sj»irlt and at the same tiiiu'
gave hiin his lirst ac<iuaiiitaiR-e witli the usagi-s of
cultivatcMl society.

The institution at Kisenacli was in synipatliy
with that entliusiastie revival of interest in seien-
titie and ehissieal studies whicli is known as
Humanism. Anionj^ liis teachers liere wen;
Pastor Wiegand, witli wliom lie maintained
fiicndly relations for many years, and John Tre-
bonius, a j)oet and most faithful instructor, who
is said to have always removed his cap when com-
ini^ hefore his jtupils, imi)ressed with the thought
tliat there might l)e among them some future city
magistrate or learned doctor. During the four
years spent at this place, his quick j)ercej)tion,
vivid imagination and i)Ower of apt and ])ictur-
csipie exi)ression hecame manifest to all. lie ac-
(juinMl a full knowledge of Latin, writing it
freely in both prose and versie.

rTTAPTKR TTT.

ADVANCED STUDIES.

Not far from Mansfclil was tlio University of
Erfurt, then one of the most illustrious of Cer-
inany. Among its prominent professors were
Ijulieus Truttvetter and Arnoldi von Usin«r,.n.
The institution a(l}iere<l to tlie principles of^tlie
later Scholasticism which accepted the tradi-
tional (loLMuas of the ("hunh and exhausted its en-
ergies in hair-splitting and profitless discussions
of the external forms of doctrine. Lutlier here
ac(|uired a thorough ac(juaint;ince with this sys-
tem, which was invaluahle to him in liis suhse-
(jueiit labors, and his natural powers of discern-
ment were greatly (juickened hy the keen encounter
with his academical opponents.

Hut it was anjong the zealous advocates of the
Humanistic stu<lies,which were also here encour-
aged, that Luther found his nio>t coiig.-nial
friends, including Crotus Rubianus. George
Spalatin and John Lange. lie was a welcome
comrade in the circle to which they belonged, be-
ing regarded by them as the philosopher and
musician of the company.

The wide-s})read int<'rest in classical litera-
ture and the liberal sciences which had spread
through the more intelligent cla.sses of all the great
western nations opened an inviting field t<) tlie
ambitious youth of the univei-sities. The ancient
mythology of (ireece and Koine kindled their im-
agination, the poets and orators of anti(piitv be-
came the models of style, and the moral and relig-
(10

A1>V.\N(K1> STUDIES. IT)

ious ]>rin(ii>U'S of the ancient culturt'd licathcn
world Wire inK'(^ns(iouslyinil>il)(»I. Tlie movement
tlius tended to divert the minds of its adhen-nts
entirely away from the C'hristian relij^ion. When
the scriptural ideas of sin, atonement, fellowship
with Ciod, and a future life were ijrnored, hut little
respect could l)e longer entertained U)T the Bihle.
It was ])laeed ui)on a par with the sacred hooks
of other reliizions. (lod Himself and the proi>hets
and saints of the Church were hy many classed
with the L'ods and liemes of heathen nations. Tlie
verv foundations of morality were thus under-
minetl. Tlie voice of consi'ience was smothered
and all serious views of life hanishcd. The jtleas-
ures of intellectual culture were extolled hy some;
social enjoyment l)ecame the sole aim of others;
while not a few, freed from all moral and reli«:;ious
restraint, induljred in gross immorality under the
garh of sui>erior enlightenment.

Yet this new godless culture found it (juite ]tos-
Fihle to thrive under the outward forms of relig-
ious observances then prevalent in the Cliureli.
Its adherents formed a sort of intellectual aristoc-
racy among the liigher civil and ecclesiastical
orders, whilst the ordinances of the Church were
considered a valuahle means of preserving good
order among the niasses, their ohservance by the
enliLditencd classes being only for the sake of ex-
ample. Thus there had sprung U]>, es])ecially in
Italy and notably in Koine, before the Reforma-
tion a new heathenism under the forms of Chris-
tian life, which in utter hypocrisy exceeded any-
thing ever known in the heathen world, and which
afterward boasted a foremost representative in that
so-called Head of tlie Church, Pope Leo X., I'y
whom Lutlicr was condemned as a heretic.

In Germany, however, these destructive ten-

16 Lin'HEH, THE HEFOHMER.

dencics had not yet been developcMi. Tlic young
Humanists and "poets" (as tlicy etylctl tlieiii-
si'lvt-s) of Krfurt wvrv moral and studious, and,
wliilo j^lorifying the ancient classical authors,
maintained the most friendly relations with their
schohu^tic j)rofessors, seeking oidy to give a more
reliuLHl antl poetic expression to the truths taught
by the Church. Thus Luther felt the (luiikcning
iinjmlse of the movement in its purest form.

\\'ith characteristic ardor, the young student now-
entered upon the general philosophical course,
which included granmiar, rlnimie, logic, the
physical scienei^ and moral ]»hilosophy. Among
classical writers, he ])referred Ovid, Virgil and
Cicero. In studying these and other ancient au-
thors, it was not his aim to imitate their elegance
of diction, hut to glean from them ]>ractical lessons
of every-day wisdom. His own style, though
classic in purity, was forceful rather than elegant.
His friends regretted greatly that he did not allow
the spirit of classical culture to more largely mod-
ify the hluntness of his speech and the ]>assionate
energy of his nature. But it was just tliese qual-
ities which kept him in full symjuithy with the
common ]>eoj)le and which enabled him to deal
such terrilic blows against error and breast the
storms which terrified his more fastidious associ-
ates. Although the lirst book printed in (iermany
in (ireek characters left the j)ress of Krfurt in the
very yi'ar of Luther's admission to the Lnivcrsity,
the study of that language was ])ui-sui'd by very
few at that time, and it wm* only in later years
that he beciime j)r()ficicnt in it.

In the general branches of the course his pro-
gress was so rapid that in his third se.-^sion he
readied the lirst academic degree, that of Haehelor.
This was followed, in 1503, by that of Master,

ADVANCED STl'DIES. J /

which was ((juivah'nt to oiir " Doctor of IMiil-
osophy." Mclanchthon testifies that liis extraor-
dinary ahihty won the achniration nf the whole
I'niversity.

Tlie cuhure of his taUnt for music furnislicd
rcHef from severer hil)ors. Iksieles the further
training of his voice, he h-arned to J'lay upon the
hite.

In acconhmce witli his fatlier's desire, lie now
deterniined to apply himself to the study of the
Law, which had in Ilenninj: (ioede a most dis-
tin<:uished representative in tlie faculty at Krfurt;
hut he had scarcely entered upon the new course
of study when he was led to a reniarkahle step
which changed the entire current of his life.

Throuizhout his whole career as a student, con-
science had given him no rest. He hegan every
day with private prayer and attendance U])on
early mass, it heing even then a favorite maxim
with him: "To liave ]traycd well is to have
studied well.'' Yet a fellow-student testilies that
he often said with dee]) earnestness as they
washed their hands: "The more we wai>h our-
selves, the more unclean do we become." II(»
one day discovered in the lihrary of the University
the first entire coj)y of the Bihle which he had
ever seen, and pored over its j)ages with eager de-
light. l>ut he still foun<l nf) j)eace of mind. He
thought of (iod only as a stern and righteous
Judge.

A number of incidents increased his anxiety.
During a severe sickness he thought himself dying
and was greatly alarmed. One Piaster, as he was
on his way to visit his parents, he accidentally
severed an artery of his leg with his student
sword. Lying uj»on his hack and pressing th(»
wound, he cried out in agony, "Mary, hcli)!"
2

18 H'TIIKK, TlIK KEFOHMER.

Soon iiftiT roiH'ivin;^ liis Master's dojxrcc, he was
profouinily move<l by the sudden death of an in-
tiinato friond. Ht'turning fn)ni a visit to Mans-
feld, on July 2d, loOo, he was cau«rht in :i terrific
thunder-storm, an<l, as a vivid Hasli of lijrhtning
dailed ln'fore him, lie fell to the earth and ex-
claimed: "Help me, dear St. Anna; 1 will hccome
a monk.'' Fifteen days afterward he bade fare-
well t«> the world, and entered the Augustinian
nionastrrv of \]\v town.

CHAPTER TV.

MONASTERY LIKE.

The talented university student was cordially
welcomed to the cloister. For the first year, iis a
"novice," he was compelled to perform the most
menial services, sueh as s('rul>l)in<]^ the lloors of
the eonvi'iit, and traversing the streets of the town
ill (•oin})any witli an older hrotlier of the order
gatheriiiL^ ^nfts of hread and cheese for the iiunates
of the monastery. The envy of his lussoeiiites, or
the su})])osed necessity of sj)ecial strin<xeney in his
ease to overcome the temptiition to s})iritual pride,
led to the imposing of sucli duties upon him even
after he had heen consecrated to the priesthood.
He performed all these tisks without murmuring;,
and was zealous in meeting all the rehdous re-
(juirements of his jxjsition. Seven or eii-^ht hours
daily were set apart for tlie repeating of prescribed
prayers, the Lord's Prayer and the Ave Maria he-
ing regularly recited twenty-live times every day.

When the year of prol)ation was en<led, the
novice was solemnly received into the order of
Augustinian monks, taking the vow of un(|uestion-
ing ohedience to Almighty God, the Virgin Mary
and the Prior of the convent. II(^ was now given
a cell hy himself, containing a tdile, a hed-stead
and a chair. He; could afterward declare: "If
ever a monk eould have entered heaven through
moniLstic tortures, I should have done so," and
fearlessly appeal to his former associates to attest
his scrupulous fidelity in obeying all the minutest
rules of the order.

(10)

20 M'THKK, Tin-: kekokmek.

At least onct' a week, every l)rotluT was coni-
pelle<l to make confession j)rivatcly to a desijr-
nateti priest. Luther aekimwledjied so many trans-
gressions to his "confessor," that the well-meaninj;
old man grew tired of hearing him. He was guiUy
of no gross outward sins, l»ut aeeused himself of
(|uiekness of temjK-r, envy, impatience, and a host
of insignilicant olTenses against the rules of the con-
vent eoneerning the daily exereises(>f worship, etc.

It was the tloetrine of the Church, that the peni-
tent nmst confess all his sins, with inward peni-
tence, or contrition. The confessor then ])ro-
nounce<l ahsolution, or the pardon of sin, hut at
once also imposed as temporal i)i'nalties yet to be
re<iuire<l various mortilications of the llesh. com-
monly called penances. The imperfect j)erforn»-
ance of these j>cnanc« s wouM incur the wrath of
(iod, and, if not leading to final perdition, would
at least re(|uire the soul to endure uns})eakal»le tor-
ment in j)Urgatorial fires. Luther accepted this
teaching with umpiestioning faith, and sought in
the prescribed way to make sure of his accei»tance
with (lod. But he wju^ too honest to believe that
his jKiiitence was as dee|) as it should be, and
although it was taught that tlie absolution j)ro-
nouiiccd would atone for any imperfection in the
contrition of the sincere penitent, yet he was de-
prived of the comfort which he might have found
in this assurance l»y the immediate imposition of
further penances, in the fulfihnent of which he
again realized his own inlirmity. In tlii' desper-
ate effort to find inward peaci', he lunhrtook far
more than was re(iuire<l of him. lie thus gainetl
much repute for sanctity; l»ut in all these e(T<»rts
hv afterwanls recogni/cd the i>ri«le of his own
Ijeart, which sought in this way t<» attain a right-
eouHncKS of it- ..un ;ni,l t.. iniiit tli«' divine favor.

MONASTERY LIFE. 21

In May, I.'jOT, LutluT w;is formally iiiductcd
intn the priesthood, wln-n the svnav of addcii iv-
spoiisibility ;,'itatly hiirdt'm'd him. \\'ho was he,
that he should dare to aj>i»roaeh (Jod and j)resent
to llim, in the sacrifiee of tlie mass, the body of
His dear Son? He trembled, and almost i)erished
at tlie tlioiifjht. The aceidental omission of a
word of the prescribed formula he regarded as a
^Tievous sin. He selected twenty-one out of the
lonjx eatalo«rue of saints, and at each daily mass
implored the intercession of three of these, thus
eom]»letin;z the list every week.

Meanwhile, he studied diligently the scholastic
theology, and soon knew the works of liiel and
I)'Ailly almost by heart. He found great delight
in the keen dialectics of Occam. He read faith-
fully, but with some impatience, the voluminous
works of Tlu>mas Aquinas and Duns Scotus. lUit
all these celebrated teachers of tlieology failed to
bring peace to his troubled heart. They all
taui:lit him to rely on liis own efforts to procure for
himself the favor of (Jod. Preaching not the love
of (Jod, but His majesty and absolute power, tliey
led the anxious student to imagine that the tor-
tures of mind which he had so long endured were
indications that he was hoplessly given over to
eternal destruction by an unchanging decree of the
Almighty.

His despondency was doubtless increased by the
im|iaired condition of his bodily health. Long
fa>ting and arduous labors, cond)ined with an al-
most unexampled devotion to study, reduced his
vitality and naturally inclined him to gloomy
forebodings. Thus many circumstances cond)ined
to m.ike him for all time an exam]»le of the utter
helplessness of the man who thinks by his own
iiMble.-( and most self-denying elTorts to sceure the
.ipproval of a holy (Jod.

22 Ll'TIIEK, TIIK KEFORMEIl.

But the mercy of the lA)nl whom he thus
i^^norantly sou«;lit to worship was j)re|)arin«; cle-
Hveranci*. Wliile yet a novice, he was permitted
for a sexsoii to liave the use of a liihle, ami,
thouj^li he faileil to ^rasp tlie central thouj^'ht of
the (iospel message, he stored up many })assages
in his faithful memory. A brother in the mon-
astery, to whom he confided somethin*^ of his
spiritual trouhle, urj^ed him to make his own the
declaration of the Creed, '' 1 helieve in the for-
giveni'ss of sins,'' reminding; him that it is not
the sins of Peter or of Paul of which we are to
tiiink when makini? this ci^nfession, hut ()ur own,
and insistiuL^ also that " Ciod commands us to
hope," and that despair is therefore disohedience.

But it was from the vicar-general of his (»rder,
John von Staupitz, a man of earnest practical
piety and of sympathetic nature, that he received
the most suhstantial ai»l. The latter, on his regular
visits to Erfurt, encouraged the confidence of the
young monk and hecame deeply interested in hini.
He advised him, instead of worrying ahout prt'dcs-
tination, to view the mercy of Clod in the wounds
of Clirist; inst^^ad of his own scrupulous ohserv-
ance of outward ceremonies, to seek that inward
renewal of heart which is, according to the New
Testiunent, the essence of conversion; and to trust,
not in the preti*ntious works of his own prouil self-
righteousness, hut in the grace of (Jod as reveaU'd
in Christ. This was timely advice, and to his old
age IjUther acknowledged it as the chief means hy
which (tod led him to a knowledge of the saving
truth. In the light of his experience we can un-
derstand why he so frecpiently speaks of the value
of wise Christian counsel in hours of spiritual
distress and of the henelits of confession and ahso-
lution.

MONASTERY I.IFK. 23

With a new hope stirring within liini, Luther
now turui'cl with fr»>h intiTrst to the Seriptuns.
He discovered tliat the st riptural word for re}>ent-
anee in the ori«iinal CJreek liad no referenci' to
outward ohservanees, hut could mean only a
chan«;e of niintl, or heart. Everywhere he found
clearest revelations of the grace of (lod, and his
whole concej)tion of the i>lan of salvation was
cliange<l. Looking away from himself with a
faith genuine yet timid, he found a measure of
inward comfort utterly unknown hefore. This
was the crisis period of his new spiritual life.
He now advanced steadily in his ])ercej)tion of
scriptural truth, although he had not the remotest
idea of the revolulinnary character of his new
princi]>les.

The intellectual attainments of the Erfurt
monk had meanwhile hecome widely known, and
he was regarded as the most talented and learne(l
man in the Augustinian order of (lermany. His
zeal for the proper understanding of the Scriptures
led to the purchase of a Hebrew lexicon, then a
great rarity, and his diligent ai>]>lieation to the
study of that language without an instructor or
associate.

CHAPTER V.

rUOFESSOHSlIir at WITTENREnn.

At the close of the year 150S, Luther was, \i]>nn
tlic reeoininendation of Staiipitz, aj)p()inte(l a Pro-
fessor in the newly-('stal»Hslieil rnivei*sity of
M'ilt('n)»('r«:. II*' at first taii^Mit only the so-ealU'tl

1»hil(>s(>j)lii(al hranchcs, which he had pursued at
u-furt. His j)rt'f(renee was, however, for the-
olojzy, whieh, as he was aceustonieil to say, deals
with the kernel of truth, whereas the other
sciences are concerned only with the shell. In
connection with his oflicial duties, he at once
entered uj^on the course of study necepsary in
order to secure the academic rank nMjuircd for the
hi-jlicr })osition. The de<:re('of Bachelor of The-
ology could he ohtained only tlirou;_di three stai:i's,
each occupying at least six months, and each
closing with an examination and a ]iu)>lic discus-
sion. These recjuirements weri' easily met, and
the haccalaureate degree ol)tained witliin eighteen
months. \\'ithin this jjcriod he gave theological
instruction for three sessions at the University of
Krfurt, when lie was recalled to Wittenherg, where
he now outranked all the other instructors in the
faculty.

In January, IT)!!, he. in conipany with anotlier
delegate, was sent to Rome upon an important
mi.'^sion connecte(l with the government of the
Augustinian monasteries of (lermany. He re-
joiced in this opi)ortunity of visiting the fountain-
head of Christian authority and life, and hojK'd
for great spiritual henelit from contact with the
(21)

PKOFESSOKSIIIl' AT WITTENBEKG. 25

holy leaders of the Cliunli. At the lii-st si^dit of
the capital he j)r()strateil hiiiisrlf Ujxni the j^ruund,
CTvinir, ''Hail, holy Hoinc!'' The four weeks
spent ill theeity were (liliL'eiitly utihzfd. He ran
ahoiit, he afterwards tells us, like "a stupi<l
Srtint," from church to churc-h, helievin;^ all the
silly fahles told him, and striving to gain the
8j)ecial hlessings offered to the worshijters at each
sacri'd shrine. He almost wished that his mother
and father were dead, that he might emhrace the
oi)portunity to ])ray them out of ])urgatory. As
lie was reverently climhing U})on his knees up the
stair-case saiil to have heen brought from Pilate's
judgnunt-hall at Jerusalem, an exercise which ap-
peared to him the very acme of holy service, in-
stead of the sense of the divine favor which he
had anticipated, he was overwhelmed with a con-
viction of the utter inconsistency of all such works
of supi)osed merit with the great declaration of the
Apostle: "The just shall live hy faitli."

His fond belief in the sanctity of Rome was
now rudely disj)elled. Hi' was amazed at the
reckless luxury of the ]»apal court, and greatly
scandalized by the trilling way in which the priests
conducted sacred services, even jesting as they
celebrated the solemn mass. He discovered that
Pope Julian was a shrewd, worldly-minded man,
and that cardinals were guilty of gross, open im-
morality. He heard it said upon the streets that
"if there is a hell. Home is built over it." His
j)atriotic spirit was stirred when he heard theder-
man people sneeringly spoken of as "stujjid" Utr
their simple and r<>verent obedience. Yet all this
did uoi shake his conlidence in the divine author-
ity of the Church, but oidy led him to grieve over
the unworthiness of those occu]»ying its chief
j)laces of honor, and to long more earnestly for
reform.

26 LUTHEH, TIIK KEFoKMEU.

Roturninp to Wittt-nhor^. he was aj)j>ointcd
Sub-prior <>f tho nmna^tcry at that ^)lacH', and on
(Jctohcr ISlh and r.Hh, loTJ, was solciiinly in-
vested with the title. Doctor of Theology. He
aeoeptiH.1 this vtTv unwillingly, hut, as it involved
both the authority and a sole inn oath to defend
the truth of the (Ii>sik'1, it aftenvard gave him
great contidince when compellrd to maintain his
eonvictions against the traditional teachings of the
Church.

In the theological lectures whidi he now be-
gan to deliver, an entirely new nulliod was intro-
ducc«d. The exjK)sition of the 8cri})tures had been
previously connnitted to instructors of lower rank,
whilst the doctore of divinity were expcx.ted to
base their instructions upon the developed system
of the great s(h(>la>tic authorities. Luther, on the
contrary, conlined his lectures to the Herijitures
themselves, and aimed especially to present in the
clearest possi})le form the great saving truths of
revelation. In the very first course of instruction,
full notes of which have haj>]>ily been preserved
to us, he declares the Word of ( Jod to be for the
eeeker after truth what i»asture is to the ox, its
nest to the bird, or a stream to the fish.

He chose for his first course of lectures as
"Doctor <»f tlic Sacred Scriptures," in \i')]'.\ and
l')!-!, the Psalms, l)eing attracted by their devo-
tional sj>iiit. He had a special edition of the
Psalter printed for the use of his students, in which
large spaces were left between the lines and upon
the margin. A copy of this editi(»n is still pre-
served in the library at Wolfeiibilttel, the pages of
which are crowded with comments in the liand-
writing of the Kcfornier, evidently forming the
!>asis for tlic fuller expositions given to his classes.
The euinments du not manifest that anxiety to

PROFESSOItSlIll' AT WITTENBERG. 27

discover the oriLMnal meaninjj: of tlic text wliidi
afti rwanls tliaractcrizAMl LiUIut's expository writ-
iiiL's, l)Ut tlicy display tlit' cli'ej)C'St sympathy witli
the inward stru«:«;lt'S of the saered writers and a
constant elYort to detect, wherever possible, projdi-
I'cies and types of that Saviour in wliose fellowship
his own soul had now found rest.

In l')!'), he hejran to lecture upon the Epistle to
the Romans, havinjx found the key to a i)roper
undrr>tandin«^^ of this profound theological treatise
in the 17th verse of the lirst cha}>ter. He had for-
merly conceived of the righteousness of Ciod as a
revelation only of sttTU, uncompromising justice,
lie now, in the light of Paul's argument, beheld
in it the righteousness imputed to every one who
believes in Christ, as the sure i)ledge of his accept-
ance as a child of (4od.

In 1510, he undertook an exposition of the
Epistle to the Galatians, developing especially
the scriptural discrimination between tlie Law and
the (ios])el — between the bcaulage of the letter and
the freedom of the s})irit. As the original epistle
swept away the pntensions of the Pharisees of old,
so Luther's strong presentation of its principles
now placed in clear light the perversions of the
entire i)apal system of human ordinances, and
taught men to render even to the divine law not a
servile, l>ut a willing and loving obedience.

These three early commentaries all discuss the
great question which in j)ractical importance
overshadows all others: How shall man become
righteous before (iod and inherit eternal life? They
clearly state tin; scri])tural doctrine of justilication
by faith. They teach that Christian character de-
pends, not U])on outward works of self-inortilica-
tion, but upon the state of the heart; that sins
are forgiven freely by the grace of CJod; and that

28 LUTIIKU, TIIK UKKOK.MKU.

\hv faith wliich acot'j>ts j)aril()n as a free ^'itt )>e-
comos an active jjroinotor of all p^xl >vorks, just
as a pMul trof will prudiu'e pxuj fruit.

Frnin the celehrate«l teachers of theolojjy of the
Mi<Ulle A«;es, who ha<l hliiully adojtti'*! the ideas
ami inetlKxl of the ancient heathen i)hilosoj)her,
Aristotle, and who failed, in eonseijuenec, t*> un-
derstand the nature of sin and the real purpose of
the Gospel, Lnther turned to Augustine, whose
name was slill honored, hut wlM)se works had
fallen into neglect. He was delijihted to lind in
this j^reat teacher a clear confi'ssion of the de|tlh
of human de)>ravity and helplessness, and a nia;,'-
nifyinjj of tiie free mercy of (iod. lUit evi-n
Au«,'ustine had not so fully prasped as did Luther
the apostolic conception of faith alone as the
means of appropriatinj; the freely-offered grace.

But the mind and lieart of the great Keformer
were suhjected also to a j)owerful influence from
another (piarter. During the thirteenth and four-
teenth centuries there had arisen in (iermany a
numher of men of deep contem]»lative l>iety,
known as the German Mystics. They sought to
attain fellowsliip wiili (iod l.y renunciation of the
world and of their own desires. They too often
carried out this i«lea to great extremes, endeavor-
ing to lose all sense of exist^'nce in a dreamy re-
verie, to dissolve away "into nothingness."
Alrea«ly in the cloister Luther had felt the im-
pulse of this system from his study of the works of
Gerson (f A. I). LLiD), und from his intercourse
with Staupitz. The sermons of mic of the n(»h!cst
of its representatives. John Tauler (t A. D.
1361 ), now fell into his hands and he read it with
avidity. In strong contrast with thee(»ld formulas
of the scholastics and the empty external works of
the papal system, the deep religious sj.irit of these

PROFESSORSII I r AT W ITTKNHKIU}. 29

men oncliantcd him. lie was so niuch plcasril
witli a little anonyiuttus tract in which their views
were advocated that hi' himself, in l')l(), puidished
a portion of it, and, two years later, tin* entire
work, under the title of ''German Theology."
Whilst he avoided the cmj)ty j)hilosophical con-
clusions in wliich the system of the Mystics linally
evaporated, his sympathetic study of its hetter
literature was of Lcreat henetit in adding deptli and
fervor to his piety. Its iniluence may ]»e traced
in all his future writing's in his })rofound yearning
for fi'llowship with (lod and in the recognition of
self-will as the very essence of sin. lie rose ahove
it, however, when he tauglit that Clod is love, and
that we are not only to prostrate ourselves before
Him, hut to allow Ilini to lift us uj) and inspire
us with a new and joyous life. Whilst the piety
of tlie Mysties led tliem to withdraw from the
w(»rld, that of Luther sent him forth to valiant
service in the cause of truth.

With his learned lahors was combined a glowing
zeal in the ]»ractical application of the Gospel to
the connnon peoi)le. At Krfurt, he had ]»reache(l
in the dining hall of the convent; during his first
years at Wittenl)erg,in a little building of logs and
clay, and afterwards in the I'niversity Chureh. It
was his custom at times to ]>reach every day for a
week or more, sometimes delivering two daily ser-
mons in addition to his regular hctuns at the
Cniversity. His sermons were plain and prac-
tical, addressed not to the learned ]»rofessors in the
front pews, but to the ])easants and servants who
occupied the hundder seats. He spoke with great
fervor and with convincing power.

In a series of diseourses upon the Ten Com-
mandments and the Lord's Prayer, eonehidt d in
the early part of A. D. 1517, the sins of every-

30 UTIIKU, TlIK HKKOKMEH.

day life wore vividly j>ortray('<l, ^vitll tlio manifest
purix>se of awakniinp in tln' hearers a deep sense
of j»ers(»nal sinfulness with distrust in any pnssihle
effort of their own, and thm l«adin«; thmi to tho
excicisr of simple, joyous faith in Christ. The
glaring abuses of tlie prevalent saint-worship and
the niueh-laudrd jiil^'riniaps-are freely denounee<l,
and the sanctity t)f the ordinary daily life ot the
hmnhle believer is exalti'd in eontrast with the
sup])osed FujKTior holiness of the nionastie and
clerical orders. Thus, lon<r before Luther dreamed
that he should he called to occuj)y a j)ositi(>n of
World-wide inlluence as a reforuier, he was known
in the (•(•niniunity in which he lived as a man
utterly fearless in Ids denunciation of j)opular
errors. In this, many brave men had, indee<l,
preceded him, but he dilTered from them all in his
fervent prescntiition of direct, personal faith in
an atoning and triumj)hant Saviour as the all-
suHlcient basis of a p'uuine relipous life.

The rejxular monastic duties were still faitlifully
discharged, although he no longer sought thus to
merit the f;ivor of (lod. lie was in lolo ch^ted
District Vicar for 'i'huringia and Misnia (Meis-
sen), having eleven Augustinian monasteries un-
der his care. lie dis])layed a deep ]>ersonal inter-
est in the spiritual welfare of the inmates of the.'^e
in.stitutions, as well as practical wisdom in gov-
ernment and disei])lin«\

He was still a faithful subject of the Ivoman
Catholic Church, bowinLT before her authority and
acknowledging the vali<lity of all her ordinances.
He wore his monk's cowl, and urged his associ-
nt*^ and subordinates as strongly as ever to faith-
ful f)!)edience. He still thought it proper to
implore the saints to intercede for men witli CJod,
and he himself in his sermons o])enly invoke<l

PROFESSORSIIir AT WITTENDEKG. 31

the ;ii<l of the Virgin Mary. IIuss and tho I>o-
liemian lirt'thren, wlio had renoinuvd tlie pupal
authority, hv rc^zarded as " wri'tc-hcd heretics."
It" li«' invi'ight'd a«:ainst the corruptions of the
monks and c'K'r«ry, and warned a<;ainst the preacli-
iug of idh' U'«rends instead of the sinipK' truth of
tlie Gospel, he thought himself in this fully sus-
tained hy the hetter sentiment of the Church at
large. If he (juoted Augustine against Aijuinas
and Scotus, he did not imagine that he was
tlierehy assailing the accci)ted dogmas of the
C'iiurch, or <|Uestioning its authority.

r.ut tlic Reformation was now essentially
completed in the soul of Luther. He had for
years l»een leading a life of joyous faith in Christ.
He had found himself in full spiritual accord
with Paul and David. \\'ith unwearying delight
he had been unfolding to all about him the con-
solations of the glorious CJospel. Within the still
narn^w circle of his inlluence, the truth had been
gladly welcomed by many. The time had come
when, in the providence of God, the light thus en-
kindled was to break through the heavy shrouds
of mediaval darkness and shine forth to the ends
of the earth.

PERIOD 11.

ASSERTION OF PRINCIPLES. A. D. 1517-1521.

CHAPTER I.

TIIK CALL TO ACTION.

It was tlic pul)lic Sale of Indulgences, or oor-
tificates <»f jjanlon for sin, l)y oflicial rcprrscnta-
tives of the Pope, tluxt suniinoned the studious
professor and earnest pastor to the field of contro-
versy. That an ahuse so flaf^rant should find
intelligent defenders even in that ajro, or that op-
position to it should lead to a transformation of the
whole civil and reliirious aspect of the modern
world, seems almost inore<lihle. Yet it was just
here that the hattle for (iospel liherty was joined.
The sliameless ahuse of the traditional indulg«'iu<'S
led to an examination of the theory upon which
they were l)ased, and this involved a direct scru-
tiny and rejection of th(; claims upon which rested
the whole system of mediieval theology, and the
entire fahric of the papal authority.

The accepted theology of the day taught that
repentance is a sacrament, or churchly ordi-
nance, consisting of three parts: contriti«>n of heart,
confession hy tlie lips (to a priest), and satisfac-
tion hy works. Upon the first part hut little stress
was commonly laid. It was understood to he
merely a dread of punishment, and if sufficiently
deep Uy lead to confession, the ofliiiating priest
(.•J2)

Tin: (ALL TO A(TION. 33

was aullinriz(Ml t<> jintiKtuiu'e absolution, l>y wliidi
act, it was tauj^^ht, any dt'tiiii'ncy in tlir sinrt-rity
or depth of thv contrition was fully supplied, and
the profess* '< I jieniteiit positively released from the
penalty (»f eternal death. In plaee of the latter,
iiowever, were now ai)i)ointed vari<>us tenijtoral
penalties, such as fastings, preseril»e<l religious
exiTeises, the giving of alms, ete. The meeting
of these demands constituted the third necessary
part of repentance. If the works of satisfaction
thus re(|uire(l he not fully rendered in the present
life, the neglect must he atoned for hy an indefinite
perio<l of suiTering in the lires of purgatory.

There was thus, after all, ui»on this theon', no
such thing as the free and full forgiveness of sin
hy the grace of (Jod. The confessing penitent
was, indeed, declarctl free from the j)enalty of
eternal death; })ut for every slightest defect in the
atoning work still re(iinre(l of liim he must face
the ])rospect of purgatorial fires. Unless his ohedi-
ence was ])erfect, he was therefore still, and must be
for :in iiidetiiiite ]MTiod after death, a subject of
punishment, <'nduring the wrath of ( iod. As the
penalties imposed hy the Church grew heavier, the
\enrs of prosjMX'tive purgatorial jtains grew longer.
Since the obedience of the masses to the mandates
.•f the Church de]>ended largely upon their desire
to avoid the aggravation of the agonies of jnirga-
l(»ry, it was hut natural that zealous partisans of
the hierarchy should ])aint those agonies in the
deejicst lines, until they became, to the imagina-
tion of the common pe<>]>le, practically equivalent
to the unending pains of hell.

Hut tlie !'()])(•, it was further taught, might re-
mit ecclesiastical j)enalties in view of distinguished
-t-rvice rendered to the Church, or generous gifts
to her coffers. The merits of Christ and the g(jod
3

34 LUTUEU, llIK KKFOKMER.

works of those eminent saints who liad done more
than was re<juiri'ii of tlitni were Mii»p«»sr<l to con-
stitute a sacT(d ** treasure of the Church,"
which the Pope was authorized to apply in nuiking
up delicieneies in the lioliness or ohedienee of
others. He might even thus lij;hten or altogether
remove the penalties yet resting uiM»n souls already
in purgatory, in view of the devotion or gifts of
their surviving relatives.

(Jradually, this theory of pajKil )»anlnn, nr in-
dulgence, was modified in two inijMntant particu-
lars. It was nuule applicahle, not only to the
imperfect ohservance of ihurchly j)enalties, hut to
transgressions of the divine law as v.cU. Thus
contrition, or sorrow for sin, hecame a secondary
matter, and repentance a mere outward ceremony
— a penance rendered hy the sinner himself, and
even this avoidaide uj)on the }»ayment of money
for the henelit of the Chunh.

Thus, hundreds (.f lliMU>aiids of indulgences, as-
suring the full pardon of all sins, were granteil
to those who participated in the Crusades. At a
later day, they were freely hestowed in return for
generous contrihutions of funds to aid in war
against the Turks. The guardians of sacred
sln-ines and of the re])uted relics of the saints in
various ]»laces were authorized to dispense to all
visitors there njaking confession on certain days,
•or to deceased frii'uds of thi' latter, indulgences
covering varying terms of years in purgatory.

Pope Leo was at tliis time /.<al(>usly pr(>secuting
the erection of St. Peter's Cathedral, at Home,
and gracicKisly ofTered to all who should j)ay to his
accredited agents appropriate sums of money cer-
tilicati'S entitling them to claim at the hands of
any priest (penit«nee heing prudently mentioned
in the jiapers, hut as jirudtntly overloukid in the

THE CALL TO ACTION. 3.5

jireacliinp of tlu' auctionoerinp aj^cnts) abpolution
for all their sins and particij)ati(»n in all Xhv Mcss-
ini^ of salvation. I'rincu All>Lrt, Archliislnip of
Mayence, had undortakin for one-half the j)ro-
ceeds (this private harjrain being unsuspected by
Luther) the distribution of these indulj^ences
throujrh a large j)art of Germany, and had engaired
a bold and unscrui)ul<)us j)riest, John Tetzel, to
urge the j)eo]>le to avail themselves of the oppor-
tunity thus ofTered. The latter, prosecuting his
wnrk with fiery zeal, reached Jiiterbog, a few miles
from \\'ittenberg, in the fall of the year 1517, and
was there literally selling " grace for cash." lie
wrought especially upon the tender regard of his
hearers for their deceased friends, crying: "The
moment the groschen rings in the chest, the soul
llies out of j)urgatory."

Members of Luther's parish jmrchased these
]»apers, and then, boldly confessing sins which
tliey had no idea of forsaking, demanded absolu-
tion at his hands. Ilorrilied at the impiety, he
utterly refused to absolve them and earnestly
admonished tliem to repentance. This they
]>romptly reported to Tetzel, who declaimed fuTcely
against the presumptuous monk daring thus to
treat with contemj>t the ])rinted mandate of the
Vn\H'. But the nn»nk maintained his ground, and
from the |)uljtit denounced the shauieless traflic
He thus discharged his duty as a pastor; but he
felt a larger responsibility resting upon him as a
I)«tetor <»f Theology, sworn to ])roclaim ami to tli-
IVnd the (Jospel l"f..n. all the world.

riTArTKn ir.

Tin: r.ni.i) challenge.

The most jjroiniiunt biiililiup in Wittrnl>erg
was the Castle Church. Ori^'inally tstal»li>ln<l
ns a <l(|H)sit«trv f«»ra ''sacnil lljorn," said to liave
\tvvu takni fnun the crown prcssitl u]>on the Sav-
iour's )>ro\v, it liatl for more tlian one hundred and
fifty years been a centre of suixrstitious (Kvotion,
when, in the closing; <lecade of tlie tiftecnth century,
the Elector ?>ederick the Wise greatly enlarped it
and at enormous expense gathered within its walls
relics from all j>arts of the world to the number of
more than iive thousand, including a piii-e of the
burning bush seen by Moses, i)art of the liery fur-
nace of Nebuchadiu'zzar, arms and lingn-s «»f the
babes of Hethhlicni slaughtered by IIcn»d, hair of
the Virgin Mary, fragments t)f tlie Saviour's swad-
dling cl<»thes, his beard, the purple rol>e, toes and
hair of various saints, etc. Whoever worshiped
reverently in this sacred e<lilice on the days innne-
diately preceding or following the festival of All
Saints, was entitled to j)a])al indulgence extending
in some cases for one hundred years. This chun h
stood in close relation with the I'niversity, the
public exercises of the latter being held within its
walls, and academic announcements being upon
the great festival days posted upon its d(K»rs.

Here was lutw the oj.portunity for the bravo
young Doctor. Appointed to preach in this
church on the .'Hst of October, lolT, the afternoon
proce<ling All Saints' day, he discourses fervently
upon true inward rejMntancc as distinguished

THE noLI) < HALLKNC.K. 37

from outward fnnnsof peiKiMcc, and foarlossly coii-
dciniis tlu* trallic in induljjrnces, altliou^di well
knowing that he is thenl^y rohhing the treasured
relies of the phice of all their value and exposing
to ridieule the folly <>f his patron, the Kleetor.

Some tinje hefore entering the chureh he had
(|uietly perfornie<l the aet which is now universally
reoognizrd as the actual starting-point of the
Reformation. Stei)j)ing uj) to the great door, he
nailed upon it a j)roelamation inviting all jxrsons
interested to participate in i)ei*s()n or hy writing in
a public discussion of the "Virtue of Indulg-
ences." As a basis for the disputation, he pre-
sented Ninety-five Theses, or brief j)r()posi-
tions, bearing upon tlie subject. He did not him-
self realize that the j)rinciples which lie announced
must eventually abolish the j)raetice altogether
and undermin<' the whole system of church organ-
ization by which they were sui)j)orted. It was
not his calling to forecast the results of his con-
duct, but simply to be faithful to the light which
he had and to his ])osition as a teacher and de-
fender of scriptural truth.

The Theses are moderate and respectful in
tone. The author freely grants the right of tlu^
I'ope to issue indidgences, and denounces only the
llagrant abuse of then). Upon some j)oints he is
not clear in his own mind, and hence states them
in interrogative form, hoping by thorough discus-
sion to arrive at right conclusions. Starting with
the Saviour s call to repent^ince, he maintains that
the latter is to l)e an exjMTience continuing all
through life — an inward sorrow for sin, manifesting
itself outwardly in the ov<'rcoming of the sinful
impulses iti the flesh; that the indulgences issued
l»v the Pope have nothing to do with this, but can
remit only the outward penalties imposed by the

38 LUTIIEK, TIIK KKFORMER.

Church; that tlu'v cannot in any way afTcct the
souls of the departed; that every true Christian
enjoys the ]>anlon of all his sins without any in-
dulpMice from the Pope; that it is far hetter to ex-
pend one's in(»ney in works of Christian love than
to Sijuander it in the purchase of indulgences; that
the true ''treasure of the Church " is not any ex-
tra merits of the saints, hut is the (iospil; that, if
the Pope can release so many souls from purga-
tory for money, pure Christian love should impel
him to set them all free; and that it is not by
seeking to av(»id suiTcring and trial, hut hy hearing
them with patience, that we can hope to enter
heavm at l;i>t.

The reception accorded tlic Tin scs far ex-
OtH'<led the expectations of their author. Within
two weeks they had heen scattered throughout
all (lermany and in an incredihly short time had
penetrated to the most distant portions of the
Church.

The friends of tlie hrave monk were thoroughly
frightened, and thought he had gone too far. Said
the jurist, Jerome Scheurf : " What do you ex])ect
to accomplish? The authorities ()f the Church
will not endure such holdness." The ])rior and
suh-prior of his cloister hegged him to desist and
not thus hring disgrace upon their entire order.
The theologian, Alhert Krantz, upon hearing the
Theses read, exclaimed: "Thou speakest the
trutli, goo<l hrother, hut thou wilt accomplish
nought hy it. CJo to thy cell, and cry: ' (iod have
mercy Uj»on me.' " On the other hand, no one
venturcil to acc<'j)t the challenge to a puhlic dis-
putation at Wittenhcrg. The Theses, with their
author, stood for a time alone before the world.
Nothing terrified, although sincerely regretting the
wide an«l, as he thought, premature, publicity

THK noi.D (IIALLKNGK. 89

given to tlio matter, Lutlier at oiico i.ssued a Dis-
course u}xm Indnhicnces iind (irnrc, einl)0(lyin^ tlie
same ideas, and set himself to the preparation of
a careful elucidation and tlefeucu of the positions
>vhich he had taken.

ClIAl'Tl'R 111

AXGUY KESPONSES.

Althouj^h the j)artisans of tlie Pope at first rr-
panlini the Theses with hhmk aiuazenient, and
soujrlit to (liscreiUt thtin as the idh* vajmrin^^s of a
eontrntioiis monk, it s<»(»n hccaine eviih-nt that
nmre serious attention must he «riven to them.

Tetzel, after seeking to add (lignity to his jmsi-
tinn an<l autiiority to his utterances ]>y scH'urinj^
from the Tniversity at Frankfort tlie <h\trrees of
Lieintiate and l)oet«>r of Theolojry, issue<l two
8eri(^ of counter-tlieses in wlneh he l)oldly de-
clared that the repentance spoken of ))y Clirist was
hy Ilim meant to include confession to the j)riest
and theohservance of all the jMiiances imj>osed i»y
tlie Church, an<l that the I'ojte is infallihie in his
utterances an<l >^u|irenie in his power. Tliree hun-
dn-d Dominician friars, assemhii'd at Frankfort,
espoused the cause of Tetzel; hut the \Vitteid»crj^
Htudents, Beizin«r the entire stock of his theses
brought to that place, hurned tiicm in the puhlic
square.

I\arly in January, ISIS, there was issued from
liome an ollicial document f;ir more fornii(l;il.lc in
character. Its author was Sylvester Prierias,
Masti'F of the Sacred Palace, to whom had heen
given a censorship over all ])uhlicati<»ns upon the
territory of the Romish Church. It advocated the
most extnine views concerning the suhjiM-tion of
the Clnirch to the Pa]>ncy and the nhsolute neces-
nity of priestly ordinances to salvation, whilst de-
nouncing Luther iu< a leper and a vicious dog. It
(10)

ANGKY HF^PONSKS. 41

^(•(1

f)nifully (Ux'larrd tliat if tlu- r<>|t(lia<I only jrivcn
tliis monk a fat Msliopiic and allowed him to sell
in(lul<ienc('s, he wouM now Ix* a most suhscrvient
vassal of the ]»aj)al throne \\'h('n t(in}>t('<l U>
rriticisi* severely the harsh lan.miajfe scunetimcs
employed hy Lutlier in eontroversy, it will be well
f«»r us to rememher that it was tlie j>apal party
whose oflieial rejtresentatives first descended to ]>er-
st»nalities and the hurlin*; of opprobrious nanus.

The Pope himself, in the following,' month,
instruete«l the \'iear-(leneral of the Augustinian
Order to take prompt measures for the suppression
of the eontumaeious monk of Wittenberg'. This
was not known by Luther, however, until some
months afterward.

Perhaps the most unexpected attack was that of
John Eck, a distin<:uislied theolojrian of In<,'ol-
stadt, with whom Luther had a pleasant ac<iuaint-
ance, and for whose attainments he entertained
sincere respect. This suj)posed friend prepared in
March, ISIS, under the title, Ohdlsci (from the
custom of markinfr condemned passages in books
with the obelisk, f), a criticism of tlie Theses,
denouncing them as full of the poison of Bohemian
heresy, regardless of the restraints of Christian
love, and destructive of all churchly order.

During the following July, Tetzel, emboldened
by the cont<nij)tuous silence with which liis former
assault had Ixen received, returned to the charge,
decrying Luther as an arch-heretic, ignorant of
the Scriptures and of the writings of the Chureh
Fathers. Hoogstraten, meanwhile, who had al-
ready gained repute as a i>ersecutor of the renowned
Hebrew scholar, Keuchlin, called upon the P()])e
to institute a bloody inciuisition, and cleanse the
Chureh from the new leaven of heresy.

To all these rude attacks Luther made reply,

42 LLTIIKH, TlIK KKKOKMKR.

adaptin;! liis tono, in each capo, to tlio temper and
capacity of liis opponent. IVtzcl and Iloojzstratcn
recti vtd very suniniary treatnunt. A^aint?t Kck
he jiulilislicd a formal, scliolarly treatise entitled
Astrrisri (the mar^Miial astt-risk, *, indicating' ap-
proval), whilst in response to tlie otlicial assault
of I'rieriap, lie diu^hed oil within two days a
leiiL'thy and indijrnant rejoinder, fortifying his
positions hy abumlant quotati(»ns frrmi the Scrip-
tures and from the arknowled^'«d authorities of
the Chuah.

CHAPTER IV.

PATIENT LABOR.

The months which followed tlie piihlication of
tlie Tluscs were for Lutlier iiioiitlis of unremit-
ting toil. To the duties of liis j)osition in the
UniviTsity and the lahor devolving upon him as
]);i>t(>r was now added tlie «rrave rcsjjonsihility of
hadiTsliip in the movement for reform which
centred in him as its intrepid leader. He had not
dreamed of hcinj^ hrought into such prominence,
l)Ut lie was not the man to shrink from any path
of dutyopenin<^ plainly hel'orc him. Ilis f^reatest
concern now was to discover the exact truth upon
all tlie j)oints in controversy, and, to this end, he
applied himself with all the ardor of his nature to
the work of investiiration.

As the Thi'ses had not heen desifrncd as a final
statement upon the sul)jects discussed, he l)e<;an
it once the preparation of an extensive exposition
uf them, emphasizing what was fundamental, and
candidly confessinir his uncertainty upon some
less essential points. He re<rarded this work as
most important, and it was not until the follow-
iuL' sprini? that it was <(»m]il('t('d and pven to the
press under the title, '* Elucidations (tf the Theses
concerninj]^ the Virtue of In(lul«;ences." On May
22d, he sent a ])artial coi)y to his superior, the
Archhishop of l^randenhurg, and on the 8()th of
the same month addressed another copy to the
Poi)e, to whom the entire work was dedicated.
In an accomj)anyinp letter, he suhmits his ea.sc
with the most earnest protestations of his loyalty
(43)

•M UTIIKK, TIIK KKFDUMKK.

to the Churth ami his willingness to rocoive cor-
riH'tion, or even eondcmnation, at the liands of the
Pope. He expresses, however, unshaken eonli-
denee in his cause, and antieipati-s a favoniMc
judgment when his prin(ii)les shall have received
candid exaniinatinn.

A discourse upon '^repentance," jmhlishcd
in Fi'itruarv or March, alT<»nlrd liini opportunity to
present in a positive form his favorite d(»etrine of
the supreme importance of faith, which the special
purpose of the Theses had not enahlcd him there
to discuss at large. He here clearly shows that
without faith neither contrition nor confession nor
any sacramental act can have saving eflicacy.

A very suggestive and comforting ex])osition of
th(? iioth Psalm appi-ared witliin the same
j)eriod.

With great simplicity and fervor he continued
to unf«»hl the central truths of the (lospel in his
friKjUcnt sermons and in his academical lectures.
His wide repute for scholarshi]) and the courageous
act which had so suddeidy made him famous at-
tracted students to W'ittenherg in constantly in-
creasing numiters, and these nearly all hecame
earnest advocates of his evangelical views. When
anxious friends suggested that his course must
ultimately hring upon him puhlic condemnation,
he re])lied: "I neither htgan for the sake of glory
or shame, nor will 1 desist for either."

A pleasing variation of the routine of his official
duties occurred in April an<l May. when he was
summone«l to a convention of the Augustinian
Order at Heidelberg. Kemindccl that hiscnt'mies
might end»race the oj>|nirtuiiity to intlict jiersonal
violence upon him, he (Iceland : "The more they
rage, the ujore will I pre.'^s forward." Ten days
were re«jnir''l •"■"• O"- journey, which was made

PATIKNT LAHOR. 45

mostly on foot. During' the visit lie was tivatcd
with much kindness l»y his hrcthrcn, hut no ivfcr-
( nee was direetly made to the jrreat controversy
w ith which his name had hecome so closely con-
nected. W'lien the husiness of the convention
was comj>lete<l, he was invited, according to the

ustom of the day, to conduct a disputation, the
.-erious work of his calliu}^ thus followini: him
u{M)n what l)y less devoted men mi<rht havi' l)e(n
reirarile<l as a well-earned vacation. He prc|»and,
accordin^dy, a series of theses upon the futility
nf the works of the law and the true doctrine of
liie cross. Tln» theologians of Heidelherg com-
hate<l his views with jrreat acuteness, yet in a
friendly spirit; hut the result was seen in the
( onversion (jf a nunduT of young theologians pres-
ent to the views of Luther, some of whom after-
wards hecame very prominent in jtromoting the
Reformation. After an ahsence of ahout live
weeks, he returned, greatly refreshed in body and
mind, and applied himself with renewed vigor to
his studies.

Meanwhile, neither attacks from without nor
his ahsorhing interest in his own deparlint nt
could make him forgetful (»f the general welfare
of the institution in which he lahored. \\'ith a
I'rnad ( (»nipr< hension of the re(iuirements of tin'
age, he earnestly advocated jirogressive measures
in the scientilic and jihilological dei»artments of
the University, fully convinced that the most lih-

ral education could but promote the interests of
true religion.

CHAPTER V.

A nUOWREATINT. rAKPINAL.

Meanwhile, in Kniiic, formal proceedings
wtTi' instituttil apiinst Lullur for liiit.^y. On
Au^just 11th, l)c ri'C'civrd an oflicial citation t<Ki|)-
j)rar in the holy city witliin sixty <lays and make
answer to tlie charjics a«:ainst liini hcforc a special
commission, consistin*; of ihv Paj»al Auditor and
the Master of the Sacred Palace, the ahove-nien-
tioned Prierias. As the former of these was merely
a fiscal otlicer, with no aptitude nor experience in
matters of doctrine, it was evident that the decis-
ion of tlic case must rest with Prierias, wlio had
already in such a puhlic and ofTensive way pro-
ni)Unced jud.LMnent airainst the accused.

Luther, always ready to suhmit his ])rincij>lcs
to the calm jud.i:ment of friend or foe, was yet un-
willing to make himself the victim of a mock-trial
at the hand of his sworn enemy. :ni<l 1m ncc very
promptly resolved that he would not obey the
summons. He requested that a trial he panted
him upon German soil and hefore unj)rejudiced
judges, and sought the good oflices (jf his sovereign,
the Elector Frederick, in securing this reasonahle
concession. The latter was ])rovi<lentially just at
this time in ]>osition to wield a peculiarly ])owerful
inlluencc upon hoth the civil and the ecclesiastical
authorities. There was even then assemhed at
Augshurg an Imju'rial Diet, to which Pope Leo
was a])pealing f«»r funds to carry on a ])rolonged
war with the Turks, and from which the Emperor
Maximilian wua endeavoring to secure the election
(40/

A BROWHEATING (AKIUNAL. 17

of Ills graiulsnn, Cliarles of Spain, as his own suc-
' <ss(»r. Both lia«l, tlieiffon', every reason to con-
ciliate the KKitnr Frederiek, of Saxt>ny, who was
llie aeknowh'dged ehief of the electoral princes and
was himself nuiitioned as a prohahle candidate
for the coveted imperial throne.

Thus the scheme to entrap Luther at Rome
failed, and it was agree(l that he should he tried at
AuL^hurir, hythe]>apal representative then ]>resent
at the Diet, Cardinal Cajetan This olheial was
a man of recognized ahility, the acknowIe<lge(l
leader of tlu- Tliomisl party anion.L' the scholastic
tlieolojrians of the day. For his hij^di ofliee Luth<r
t iitertaintHl sincere respect, and it was with n(j
little trej)id-ition that tlie lattef now for the first
time ]trej>are<l to ap]>ear in j»ei*son before a direct
repri'sentative of the Pope, whom he still re<:arded
as the rightful head of the Church.

Disreganling the warnings of sus]>ieio\is friends,
he set out on foot, and on Octoher 7th arrived at
Augsburg weary and sick. He at once notilled
the Cardinal of his jjresence by a messenger, refus-
ing however to apj»ear in person until furnished
with the injperial safe-conduct to which he was
entitled. The Km]>eror being absent from the city
upon a hunt, four days elapsed before the irritated
and im])atient Cardinal could secure the oppor-
tunity of dealing with the tr<»ul)lesome monk.

In the nieantinie, a trusted friend of his. Urban
of Serralonga, called rejieatedly upon Lutlnr
;ind endeavored to induce him to take a less serious
\ iew of the situation. The whole matter could be

ttled, he declared, by one little word of six let-
.ei-s, " revoco" (I recant). Wlun Luther j)leaded
for the common i>eople, who were !)eing so sliame-
fnlly deluded, the trilling ecclesiastic laughingly
maintained tliat it is allowable to deceive the

l^ LITIIKK. TlIK HEFOKMER.

|H'<»pK\ if by lljat means money ean !>e inaile to
How into the oolTers of the Chiireh. Finally, he
reniinilcil Luther tliat lie eould not cxptvt the
Elirtor to iio to war for his defenee, and taunt-
injxly inquired where In- would lind a refu^ri' when
the strnnj^ arm nf the Kmpire shiKild he invoked
a«;ainst liim. To this Luther ealndy rej)lied:
*' Under the open sky.''

At lenjrtli. on Octnln r Titli, the aeeused and his
jud«,'e stood face to face. Luther, wearing' a rohe
whieh he had lM)rrowed for the occasion, ])ri>st rated
himsi'lf hefore the great s)>iritual j>rince and ex-
presseil his readiness to make any c«>ncessions
which his conscience should allow. The Cardinal
addressed him j)atronizin<rly as his "dear son,"
and proposed to hcl]> him out of all his trouble if
he wouM simply retract his errors and j)romise to
refrain from all conduct tending; to create dissatis-
faction in the Church. In resjujuse to Luther's
demand for a specilication of his su]>posed errors,
the Cardinal limited his charfres to two points: —
Luther, he said, had denied that the merits of
Christ constitut<' a treasure from which the Church
may draw in the dispensin«r of indulirences. and
had maintaincfl that the sacraments cannot benetit
unless then- be faith in the recipient, lie declared
that he would not condescend to enp»<r(» in any ar-
liumcnt uj)on these j)oints, but demanded simply
the distinct revocation of the heretical utterances.
A conference of three days' duration provinir utterly
fruitless, theenraired Cardinal bade Luther depart
from his presence and never return unless to nnant.

A little reflection, however, convinced the
hau|;hty pnlate that In- had been too hasty. It
was tin- (Icsin* of his master, tlw l*o|ie, tlial Luther
nhouM in some way be hnm^ht to silence; an<l
Cii. tin li ..] midc not the slightest progress in that

A nuownEATiNc; cahdinal. 49

(liroctioii. llr sent, tluTofons upon tlio panic day
fur two of Liitlu'i-'s most trusted frit'uds, Staupitz,
the Vicar-(Ji'iieral of Luther's order, and Link,
the Prior of the Auj^ustinian eonvent at Nureni-
l>er^', hoth of whom were witli Luther at the Car-
melite monastery of the eity. As tliey resi)onded
]>rom])tly to Ins summons, he assured tliem of Ids
kindly feelin<,'s toward Luther and his own desire
for pcaec, and ur^ed them to exert their inlluenee
to eoneiliate the liery monk, whose " deej) eyes
and' wonderful speculations" he was unwilling
a^ain to eneounter. They ri'])()rted aecordin.Ldy at
the convent, and Luther, always easily moved hy
kindiu'ss, a<ldn\<scd a courteous letter to the Car-
dinal, apologizing for any lack of propriety in his
speech or demeanor, re-ailirming his willingness
to recall anything which he had said if convinced
of his error, an<l agreeing to remain silent upon
the «|Uestion of indulgences provided his adver-
saries would do likewise.

On ()ct(>her ISth, he notified the Cardinal that
he could not remain much longer in Augshurg,
and, his letters receiving no attention, he two days
later left the city quietly hy night, — not, however,
1)( fore he had ])r<']>are(l a formal ap])eal from th(^
Pope illy-informed to the Pope better-in-
formed, sentling one copy l>y a trusty friend to
( ajtlan and posting one for the information of the
)»ui>lic upon the wall of the catheclral. V\nm his
journey homeward, he received a copy of the in-
structions which the Poju* had given to Cajetan,
hearing date of August 'ioth, authorizing hin» to
arrest Lnther and clothing him with full jiower to
' xeonnnunicate any and all adherents of the lat-
ter at his discretion, and to place undir the han
any prince, city or university that should alTonl a
refuge to the condemned monk.

60 U'THEH, TIIK KKKOHMER.

The oficct «»f llu' transactions at Aiijrslnir*: upon
Luther was to ^rrcatly diiiiinish liis rt sprct for the
papal autli(»rity and to encourage him in hoUlly
priH'lainiing the prin(ij>l('S which he had then* so
successfully niaintaineil. If rrierias and C'ajetan
were ahle to jnesent no stronger aiirunients a;:ainst
him, what couhl he have to fear from other adver-
saries?

On \\vj. 'J'tth, the Cardinal addressed a letter
to the Elector Frederick, warning' him a^^ainst
aiTordinj; shelter to the incorrigible m<»nk, urj:in<x
his immediate surren<ler to tlie Romish authori-
ties, or, at least, his hanishment from the electoral
dominions. The faithful Frederick, ])erplexed as
to his duty but sincerely attached to his fearless
subject, sent the Utter to LutluT, allowing him to
re]>ly for himself, and three weeks later dictated a
di«:nified and non-committal n ply to the Cardinal
in his own name.

After })uhlishin^ a full account of the occur-
rences at Au«;sburj;, Luther now, utterly distrust-
inf? the Pope, and beginninfj even to suspect that
the latter was the Antichrist spoken of in Revela-
tions, niade a formal appeal, in his own hihalf
an<l in that i>f the large numlM r of his countrymen
who shared his views, to a General Council of the
Church to he held in some secure and accessible
locality.

Whilst at Augsburg, Stau]»itz, as Vicar (li-neral
of the Augustinians, had absolved him from his
vow of obedience to that order, that, in the
event of his excomnnmication, the standing of the
onler in (iermany might not be compromised, and
that he might not feel bouml by his solcnni oath
t<» sulunit to the discipline thus administere<l.

Lutli" r now .seriously nHMlitateil :i departure
from Wittenberg in order that the Klc( tor and

A BROWHEATINd CARDINAL. 51

tlie University mi^^'ht not be coiiijmIIcI to share the
• xliuin wliifh he had l)r()ii.L;]it upon liiinsclf. It
was, howevtT, dccick'd tliat lie should remain, at
Irast until the edict of exeouniiunicatiou should he
actually issu<'d. He aeeordiu;:ly l)ade a eondi-
tinnal farewell to his eon«;re^Mtion and, ready for
lliL^ht at any inoment, (|uietly applied himself to
his ordinary duties, his soul ''Idled with joy and
peace/' the sure reward of conscious rectitude.

( iiAiTKi: vr.

MIl.KKi: MEASURES.

Anxious to arrest the ])roprcss of the new doc-
trines, yet fearinpj to deal liarshly witli Luther, the
Pope now entered upon a eanipaiLni of eoiuihation.

On Nov. Uth lie issued a proclamation (pul>-
lished in (iiTniany Dee. loth), (•<)U( li(<l in ^^cneral
terms, and niaintainin.L', airainst tin* errors of ecr-
tain monks and jnvachers, that tlie divine penal-
ties for sins may )k' remittcil l>y induljrt'necs, and
that the ''treasure of the C'hureh," eonsi.^tin^^ of
the merits of Christ and of the saints, is availahle
for this j)Urpose. He thus arrayed the Cliureh
more distinetly than hcfore in support of these
doctrines, hut avoided all dinrt nuntion of the
name of Luther.

'Die efforts of C'ajetan having: failed, a new en-
voy was despatched from Kome in the pt rson of
the Pope's ehamherlain, Karl von Miltitz. He,
hein«? a Saxon nohleman and familiar with the
temi>er of the (lerman people, wiu* well suited for
till' task assigned him. He hore with him letters
from the Poi)e, addressed to the Elector Frederi<'k,
the nia<ristrates of W'ittenherg, and many otlu'rs,
in which Luther was denounced as a "son of
Satan," and "son of perdition," and the recipi-
ents were adjured to render all possihle assistance
to Miltitz in proceedin«r ajiainst him. As the
Elector Frederick was regarded as the chief pro-
tector of the heretic, a special effort was made to
ensure his good-will hy the presentation to him of
the Golden Rose, an emliKin bebtuwcd annually
(52)

MII.nKK MKASl'IJKS. 53

l)y tlic Tope ui)on sonu' ])riiR'c as a mark of .-pirial
l"av(»r.

Miltitz, iii»(»ii liis arrival, first of all soii^'lit a
conference with Cajetan. As he travilcd
tlmniL^li (ifrin-my he discoviTi'd to his dismay
that fully oni'-half the i>ojnihK'e seemed to he
upon the side of Luther, and saw in this an addi-
ti(tnal reason for the greatest eaution. He sum-
moned Tetzel hefore him and severely repri-
luanded him for his ajipro])riation of money
received from the sale of indulgenees, and for his
immoral life. The latter retired in disgraee to the
Dominican monastery at Lei])zig, where he died
a few months afterward. If the papal authorities
ima.Ldned that their heartless ahandoument of the
poor monk when he could no longer serve their
purposes would appeas(» Luther, they were greatly
mistaken. lie was stirre<l with indignati(»n and
]>itv, and addressed a cordial letter of sym})athy
to Tetzel.

It was not until the opening week of the year
1519 that Miltitz and Luther met hy ai)point-
ment at Altenherg. The hearing n[ the envoy was
extremely courteous. lie im])lored Luther with
tears to assist in cheeking the rising tide of dis-
content, and at the conclusion of the interview
dismissed him with a kiss. He agreed to use all
his influence at Rome to secure for Luther a hear-
ing hefore a German hishop, who should after an
impartial hearing decid*^ which, if any, of the
utterances of the latter were really in coniliet witli
the teachings of the Church. Pending the )>ro-
j)os«'d arititration, Luther agreed to refrain from
furtlirr attacks, j>rovidcd his opponents sh(»uld also
niiiain silent. lie ])romised to write an apolo-
getic letter to the Po|»e, and to ])uhlish an
appeal to tlie common people exhorting them to

54 I-ITHKU, Tin; KI:F(»UMK1{.

rnnain faithful to the Uuinan CathoHr Cluircli.
In the hittor, written noon afterward, Luther
acknowledges the autliority of the Pojn* as sub-
ordinate only to that of Christ himself, encour-
ages the connnon j)eoi»le to seek the intercession
of the saints for themselves and the souls in
j»urpitnry, and ur.L'es them to leave the settlement
of tile disturl>in^^ <iuesti<)ns of the day to the thcH)-
logians, and to interpret his own writings, not as
hostile to the Chnrch, hut as designed to promote
her welfare.

15y mutual consint the Archbishop of Treves
was selected as a suitaltlc ju rson t<» conduct the
proposed investigation, and during llie weeks fol-
lowing Miltitz earnestly hut fruitlessly sought to
perfect the necessary arrangements. Luther,
while assenting, took but little interest in the
matter, as the result would at best be no more
than the spmfication of distinct charges against
him, the final decision being still left to his
enemies at Rome. The Poj)e, on March 29th, be-
fore receiving Luther's letter, which was written
on the 3d of that month, addressed to him a
friendly c«»mmunication, expressing himself as
highly gratified that his " beloved son " has made
such large concessions and is now willing to re-
tract his errors, assuring him of full pardon for
the violence he had displayed under the ])rovoca-
tion of Tiitzel's imi)rudent utterances, and then in
a tone of con<lescending kindness njieating the
demand for his appearance at Rome for the
purpose of renouncing his errors in the }>resence
of the supreme TontifT. This letter, alth»>ugh
never delivi red to Luther, furnishes the clearest
evidence that the project of Miltitz for a hearing
Upon (ierman soil met with no favor at Home, and
that the seemingly friendly ajiproaches were but

MILDER MEASURES. 66

an attempt to secure hy fliittfry ^vhat could not
be j;ain('(l l>y viokiice.

Lutlur luul so re^rardctl the wlmle movtiuent
from the be«rinning, deehirin^ to his frinids that
the tears of Mihitz were crocodile-tears and liis
kiss a Judas-kiss. Yet he met courtesy with
courtesy, and madf all concessions possible in the
interest of peace, still however employin<r his time
in further preparation for the conlliet which he
now saw to be inevitable.

CIIArTKn VTT.

PUBLIC DEBATK.

SrARfELY had tlio interview with Miltitz heeii
coiiehidcd, wlieii Luther heard anew tlie blast of
^var in another <juarter. Carlstadt, his associate
at Witten))er^, liad forsome time l>ein eoiuhieting
a j»amphKt controversy with John Eck, of In«:ol-
stiidt, and arnin<,'enients liad now l»een ina(h' ft)r
the lioldin^ of a joint (U'hate \\\um the jM^ints at
issue. Tlie time and j)lace had not yet heen
agreed uj)on, hut the energetic cliampion of
Roman ortho(h)xy had already issueil a series of
twelve theses (afterwards increased to thirteen),
wliich were very evidently aimed, not at ( arl-
stadt, hut at Luther. A copy was sent hy Eck to
Luther with an invitation to he present at the dis-
cussion. As the latter well knew that C arlstadt
was a man of more ZA'al than learning and hy no
means a match for Eck in dehate, and as the as-
sault was chietly desijrne<l to hring his own teach-
ing into <lisrcitute, he, fueling no longer hoimd hy
his conditional pledge of silence, resolved not only
to he present, Init to claim the privileg«' of taking
an active j)art in tlie discussion. Many ditli-
culties were tlirown in liis way, hut Ids indomit-
able persistence overcame them all.

It was finally agreed that the disputation
sliould !)c held at Leipzig, Ixginning June 'iTth.
This city, convenitiitly 1(m ;itcd and famed for its
University, was in itsilf a suital>Ie place for such
a tournament; hut the sentiment of tlu" stu(h'nts
and burghers was stronglv with the dominant
( oC. )

PL-BLIC DERATE. o7

party, not only on the score of doctrine, but l»e-
< ausc of the jealousy with which the new Uni-
versity at Wittenherj: was rciranlcd.

The last of the thesis ])nn)osc(l Ijy Eck contro-
vertetl a ])«»sition wiiich only Luther had darc(l to
assume, and from which even C'arlstadt shrank
liack in dread, namely, that the supreme j»(»\ver
wielded hy the Pope did not rest upon divine
right, but was the result of a j)urely human
arran«(ement. The introduction of this subject
into the controversy, intended by Eck to form the
climax of the debate and to concentrate upon his
op})(»ni'nt the whole power of the Papacy, whose
very foundations were thus assailed, compelled
Luther to make a thorough investipition of the
oriL'in of the jiapal power. He read over the
wln)le series of the "decretals" issued by the
popes, and on March 13th, only ten days after his
submissive letter to Leo, amazed at the violence
done to the Scrii)tures by these supposed infallildc
utterances, he wrote to a friend that he was un-
able to decide whether the Pope is Antichrist him-
self or only his apostle, lie was at lirst tempted
to withhold the discoveries thus made forcfTective
use in the a]»j)roachin<j: debate, but, his desire for
tlie dissemination of the truth overconiin}^ his
]>rudence, lie published in advance a series of
ariruments apiinst the accepted teachin<r U]^on this
]»oint, and presented his own broad conception
of the Church, as embracinpj all true believers,
and as dependent for its existence and authority
upon no form of outward orL^anization whatsoever.

This was by far the most radical ])osition
which he had yet assumed, and for the time be-
in;; it absorbed all the interest of the opposing
parties. The final decision ujton all ])oints of
doctrine had been hitherto supposed to lie with

58 LUTIIEU, TIIK HEFOIIMER.

the visiMo liond of the Chiiuli, Fittinp as the
Vicar of Clirist in the chair of St. Peter at Koine.
If, now, it could l)e slwiNvn that tlie ( laims of the
Pope ucre witht»ut the sanction of tlie Serij>ture,
or even of Instory, the way would appear to he
open for the unsettling of confidence in the
Church itself, and men would ask hy what
authority, then, truth could ever be cstahlished.
It was l»ut jrradually that Luther himself aban-
doned the idea of findinjx somewhere an external
tribunal for the final determination of vital fjues-
tions of doctrine. Finding the Po])es so sadly un-
reliable, he yet cherisliecl the idea that a general
council representing; the whole Church, although
n<'t ill itself infallible, would always be i)reservcd
from error in doctrine, and lienee the contidiiice
with which he had himself aj>}»ealed to such
a tribunal.

The coming disputation was looked forward
to by both jtarties with the keenest interest. It
was to be a great occasion for Leipzig. Kck was
on hand several days in advance. Carlstadt
entere<l, with Luther and ^blanelitbon, on June
24th, accom])anied by two liumlred \\'ittcnberg
students armed with swords and halberds. From
every direction came j^rofessors and students,
monks an<l tradesmen. A number of the followers
of IIuss, from liohemia, eager to see and lu^ir the
brave man who seemed to them about to a.'^sume
the work of their slain leader, ventured to j»rcss in
with the great throng. A large hall in the palace
had been gorgeously decorated by onlcr of l)uke
(ieorgc, wh<» himself watchctl the )»roceedings with
deep sr»licitude.

Luther and his frimds desired that the entire
discussion !»<• taken down by competent notaries,
in order that there might be no misunderstanding

rri'.LIC DKHATE. 59

or misropresontations. To this Eck ol)JLH.'tL'(l, Imt
he was liiially ovi'irulcil. Ho was more successful
ill the clenian<l, in which lie was supi>orte(l by
Duke (JeorL'O, that the whole |)rocee(liii<;s be
afterward submitted to some prominent uni-
versity, whose tlieolo;;ians should decide which
|)arty wiis victorious. Luther, (Ui the ccmtrary,
desired to submit the case to the judgment of the
Church at lari;e. It will be oljserved that he was
tlius far in advance of his age in his confident
appeal to eiiliixhtcnt'd ])ul>lii' (>[>ini()n.

Tlir proceedings began on the a])pointi'd <lay
witli an opriiiim adihcss in the hall of tlie I'lii-
versity, a solemn mass in St. Thomas' church, and
a grand ]>roeession of citizens, students and
stran<rers, with ilarin*^ banners and Mare of
trumpets, to the scene of conflict.

Four days were consumed by Eck and Carl-
stadt in a fruitless discussion of the relations be-
tween the divine sovereignity and the free will of
man, in which the superior adroitness and
scholastic erudition of the former «iave him a great
advantage. lUit little interest was manifested by
the spectators until July 4th, when the real
(•hami)ion of the new doctrines stood face to face
with his now exultant antagonist.

A graphic j)ortraiture of the two men from the
])en of an eye-witness, Mosellanus, has fortunately
l>een ])reserved. Luther is described as of
morlerate stature, his body worn by care and
study. Yet he is apj)arently in the strength of
early manhood. Ilis voice is clear and penetrat-
ing. He has a well-stored and ready memory,
and is lluent in speech but needlessly caustic at
times. In social intercourse he is affable, viva-
cious and witty. He ap])eared during the contro-
versy always at his ease, and his countenance,

60 LirilKU, TIIK KEKOKMKIl.

evon undtT the fiercest attacks of liis assailant,
wius composed ami cluHrful. lie coininoiily luld
a hunch of lh>\vers in his hand, with whose fra-
grance he frequently rei:aled hinisrlf, to the appar-
ent (Hsioniliture of his enemies.

Eck, on tlie contrary, was of j)Owerful physiipie,
with a full, deep voice. The features of his coun-
tenance sujjpested tlie meat-shop rather than the
theologian's chair. His memory was remarkahle,
hut lie was neither ipiick in apprehension nor
clear in judgment. lie would heap »|Uotation
upon quotation from the Church Fathers and
scholastic teachers, without regard to order «>r
relevancy to the matter in hand, his a])j)art nt
ohject heing to astound the hearer with an empty
show of learning. When hard pressed, he did
not hesitate to shift his ground and claim the
position of his assailant as his own. To an ad-
mirer of the Ingolstadt champion, on the con-
trary, he appears as a veritahle Hector, hold as a
lion, guarding the citadel of the Church's faith,
his (juiver full of thunderholts for the extermina-
tion of the W'itteiihergers.

For four days the discussion hetween Kck and
Luther was confined to the crucial (piestion of the
divine right of the papal supremacy. Fek
claimed that the divine ideal of government hail
always heeii a monan hy — that heaven itself is a
monarchy, and that Christ can have istahlished
His kingdom on earth in no other form. Luther
easily met this argument hy pointing out that the
Church is indeed a monarchy, hut that Christ
Himself is its only Head, and that otherwise the
Church would he a headless hody w henever a j)ope
dies. The (»j)posin^ interj)retations of the pas-
sage in Matthew concerning the rock upon whicli
Christ declared tliat He wouM huiM His Church

PrRLIC DKRATE. 01

were PUj>port«Ml upon hoth sidos hy almndant
« I notations from the j;roat teachers of the Church.
In maintaining' that the su]»remacy of the Tope
was a mo(UTn idea, Lnther (piotcd from tlie (ireek
Fathers and from ('y]>rian. An.Lnistine, the Conncil
««f Nice, etc.; hut wh«n l^ck cited St. IJernard, for
whom Lnther was known to liavea special rej^ard,
the latter, undismayecl, appealed from Ht-rnard,
and all human authorities, to the Scriptures
rpon a reference hy Luther to the indrjKndcnt
jtosition of the Eastern Church, Kck passionat«ly
declared that all the (Ireeks who refused alle;^dance
to Home were heretics, a view which Luther pro-
nounced utterly shanu^ful.

The critical point of the discussion was reached
when Kck declared that among the doctrines of
I hiss, condenmed as heretical hy the Council of
Constance, were those now heing maintained hy
Luther. This was a masterly stroke of dialectic
jiuliey. The Condemnation of IIuss met with the
approval of the great mass of the German j)eoi)le,
and his Bohemian followers were regarded with
the greatest ahhorrence as schismatics and heretics,
a prejudice which Luther himself still largely
shared. Yet the facts oi the case were as stated
hy E.k. What should Luther do? Pvight hravely
does he meet the issue, declaring that among
the j)roi)ositions of IIuss condenmed at Constance
were some that were thoroughly Christian and
evangelical, particularly those concerning the
nature of the Church and the primacy. Eagerly
does his adversary seize ui)on this hold assertion
as indicating contempt for the solemn declaration
of a great Council. Cnwilling to appear in this
light, and strongly Itound hy his own life-long
reverence for the decisions of such a general repr<'-
sentative hody of the Church, Luther tried in

62 LUTIIEH, THE REFORMER.

every possible way to defeml the Council from the
charge of error, hut linally referred this phase of
the (juestinn hack to Kek, stoutly inaintaininj^
that, at all event**, these propositions of IIuss anil
his own were true and confirmed hy the hi^diest
of all authorities, the Sacred Scriptures.

The discussion of other doctrines which fol-
lowed constantly drifted hack to this ahsorhin;:
question of the final source of authority in the
Church. In refusing to recnuMii/.f tlie Second
Hook of Maccahccs, Luther foun<l himself ai^ain in
open conlliit with the Chunh, an<l upon theijues-
tion of pur<;atory he was compelled to face the
clear declaration of anoth(*r Council, that of Flor-
ence, held in 1438. In Ixitli cases, he calmly
maintained his groun<l.

On July 14th', Lutlier yicMed liis place to Carl-
stadt, whose privilei^e it was to have the linal word
U{)on the side of the Reformers, an«l after a day
or two the disputation was hrou«:ht to a hurried
close. Luther returned to his work. K( k re-
mained for nine days in Leijizij^ as the honored
guest of the city, everywhere greeted as victor and
loaded with honors. The Universities of Paris
and Krfurt, to which the reports of the trans-
actions were referred, refused, upon various
grounds, to render any decision.

The great conflict from which so much had heen
expected appeare(l to have heen fruitless. Me-
lanchthon, Mosellanus and others greatly depre-
cated the unseemly strife as not calculated tx)
promote the interests of true ])iety. Much good
was' however accomplished hy the great interest
awakened in many earnest minds.

Hut important nsults were at once manifest in
th«' iiitlneiiceof tin- discussion upon the two chief
champions. Kck ftdlowed up his supposed

PUBLIC DEBATE. 63

triumph with rcU^ntloss ent'rpy. IIo attempted
l>y thitterv of C'arlstadt to win him from the suj)-
port of Luther. \lv wrote to the Kkrtor Fred-
critk, expressiujr re«;ret tluit he had hecn com-
pelled to administer sueh a erushin*^ defeat to a
memher of the hitter's university, and admonish-
in*; him to hum all the hooks of tlie reckless pro-
fessor ujion one hea{). To Rome he sent a full
report of Ids great achievement, and urp<'d the
Tope to j»rocee<l vigorously in the prose<ution of
the heretic. In short, we must from this time
onward regard Kek as Luther's most bitter
enemy.

Luther declared tt) his friends that he had never
heen so shamefully treated as at Leipzig. He
had learned to regard p]ck with contem|»t for Ins
vanity and du])licity. He was disgusted with the
general course of the Dis]Hitation, declaring that
it had a had heginning and a worse endini^ With
only one feature of it was he satislied, namely, the
comparatively full di.^cussion of the grounds of
the ]»a]>al auihority. By this he had heen diiv. u
to the clearest conviction that even the general
councils were unreliable and to take his stand
-imply u|)on the unassailahle testimony of the
Divine ^\'ord itself. This conviction in the mind
of Luther gave a new direction to his energies
and exerted an incalculahle inlluencc upon the
course of events. It was the great achievement of
the Leipzig Dihputatiun.

CTTAPTKn VTTT.

Ol'KN KNMITY.

The encounter at Leipzig gerved to fix tlic
gaze of multitudes anew upon Lutlier. It
proved that he could not only assail the great
errors of tlie day in written j)ropositions, l»ut that
he could h(»ld liis own in free discussion with tlie
foremost (U'l>ater in (ierinany. The very to])ie
whicli Eek liad so shrewdly introduced in order
to entra]) his anta«:onist, /. r. , the supremacy of
the I'ope, prove<l most fruitful in lea(Hng the Re-
former to an advanced j)osition of hostihty against
thefundamental principleof the Romish hierarchy.
Tlie hattle evidently was not yet closed, hut the
pale Wittcnherg professor now stood forth to the
view of the world as a ^va^^io^ fully armed and
eager for the fray.

During the three years which followed, he was
never without an assailant, and the heaping of
maledictions U]>on his name was considered the
surest way to ecclesiastical jtrefernu nt.

In April, 151.S, a large convention of Fran-
ciscan Monks, held at Jiiterhog, drew up formal
charges against him to he laid hefori' the liishop
of Rrandenhurg. accusing him, in coarse terms, of
heresy upon eight articles of the Catholic faith.
Luther rehuk<*(l their presumption and threatened
to exjjose their ignorance if the (jfrence win- re-
peatecl, l)ut not until Kck had rushe«l to their de-
fence did he deign to make a formal reply to the
slanderous attack.

Jerome Emser, a friend of Kck, who had heen
(Ol)

OPEN ENMITY. 65

present at the Lcijizi*: Disputation, jjulilished
wliat purjH)rt((l to l)e a frii-ndly dcfrnce of Luther
a^rainst the suspicions of synijiatliy with tlie Bohe-
mians awakened l»y his championship of certain
propositions of John lluss. It was really a
treacherous attempt to brin<j: upon Luther all the
odium attachin*^ to the very name of the Bolic-
mians in the minds of the common jieople. The
coat-of-arms of Kmser, an ihex, was ])rinted upon
the title pa;je. The malice and hy]H)crisy of the
j)uhlication aroused in Luther the intensest indi<^-
nation, and lie replied with lierci' denunciation in
a tract entitU'd, To Kinsrr, the (loat, proposing; to
Inmt down this impertinent l)east. Emser re-
j)lied with coarse slander, calling Luther a dog,
and Eck soon came to his assistance with caustic
comments uj)on Luther's ridiculous chase, declar-
ing that the latter, with only a few ignorant lay-
men in his foll<>wing, was attemj>ting to over-
whelm the whole body of the intelligent clergy.
Eck then set out in person for Rome, there, as
Luther said, to stir up the al)yss of the lower
worM against liim.

Within a very short period nearly all the uni-
versities of Germany and France became in-
terest<'d in the (|Uestions at issu(\ Realizing only
too well the occasion for protest against theal)Uses
of the day, yet wedded to the traditional doctrines
and dej)endent largely U])on tlu' favor of the Rom-
ish Church, they connnonly avoidiMl definite ofli-
eial utterances. In August and Sei>tend)er, 1519,
however, the universities at Cologne and Louvain
formally condemned Luther's works, and de-
manded that tiieir author be forced to a ])ublic re-
eantation. Their action was at once aj)prov(Ml by
Hadrian, of Tortosa, the chief official of the
Church in Sj)ain. Luther did not receive a copy
5

66 Ll'TIIEH, THK KKK<»1JMER.

of the (liKiiinent until \\w ftjlowing March, when
he n-pli* (1 hrictly ami srornfully.

Duke George, of Saxony, who lieforc the
Lfipziu' Disputation had hccn (lisj»osc(l to give the
new doctrines at least a fair hearing, hecanie stjon
afterward a determined opponent, and in Deceni-
ix'r, 151U, wrote to the Elector urging him to Uike
j)ronij)t measures to free himself from the re-
proach of cherishing heresy in his domains.

In January, 1520, the Bishop of Misnia is-
sued a decree condenming LuIIut's demand for a
restoration of the cup to the laity in the celehra-
tion (^f the Lord's Supj)er. This was of special
signilicance as heing the first otlicial utterance of
a (ierman hishoj) against Luther. He replied
vigorously, refusing to acknowledge the document
as genuine, attril>uting it to some suhordinate offi-
cial of the episcoj)al residence at Stolpe, and as
such condemning it.

Meanwhile a defence of "the apostolic chair"
apj>eare(l in Leipzig, written hy a Franciscan
monk, Augustine of Alveld. It was weak in
argument, and as it was written in Latin, which
only the educated could understand, Luther did
not regard it as worthy of notice until it appeare<l
in a (Jerman translation, when he j)repared, as an
antidote, a tract for the ci^nnnon |)eople setting
forth the nature of the Church as the invisihle as-
seml>ly of true holievers, all of whom are, hy virtue
of their (Christian calling, priests hefore (iod.

IjUther's ai)peal from tlie Tope and his re]>re-
sentatives to a general c(»uncil hrought out a fresh
attack from his old enemy at Rome, Prierias, in
which the latter reiterati'd his extravagant views of
the su|)reme power of the Pope. Luther scornfully
repuhlished tin* entire docununt, with a few run-
ning (omments, allowing tlie ridiculous claims of
the fanatiad j)api.st to furnish their <»wn refutation.

( Haiti:!! ix

\'i:ry ]M'(\ili:ir indeed were tlit' ]KTsonaI rdationR
of Frederick the Wise, the KIcttor of Saxony,
with his iriTpressil>It' siil)jert. Once had he heard
the latter i)reat'h. He read liis writings with deep
interest, aeeei)ted the fundamental articles of his
teaching, communicated with him frcijuently
through intermediaries, sent him ])resenti<, re-
(juested favors of him, protected him, — and yet
never met him j)ersonalIy. The foremost of the
j)rinces of Germany, ruling over a peoi>le hound
in thraldom to the existing Church, j)rovidentially
placed in a ])osition t(M'onimand the greatest con-
sideration for his wishes at tlie hand of hoth Pope
and Emperor, he could serve Luther and the
cause of evangelical liherty hest hy refraining from
puhlic demonstrations of sympathy, and simply
demanding an ojien hearing and fair treatment for
the reputed heretic. Luther aj)])reciated the
measure of favor thus granted him and asked no
more. He trusted the honest heart of his sover-
eign, hut never depended uj)on him for actual
protection against his enemies. In the hour of
greatest ])eril, he regarded himself rather as the
protect<^)r of his ])rince.

A few weeks heforcthe Leii)zig Disputation, the
University of Wittenherg had welcomed as ]>r<>-
fessor of aiu-ieiit languages, etc., a young man of
reiii.irkahle attainments in scholarship, Philip
Melanchthon He was the direct eounteri>art of
Luther in physical and mental endowments, but
(07)

68 LUTHEK, THE UKFORMEK.

of an t'fiiially «arnest and trnth-loving teni]KT.
Kacli at iiwcv n'cn«:nizt'<l in the otliur tlu' (jualitics
ncnltMl to siipplcnicnt liis own (letkiencies, and a
ht'autiful friendship wius formed which endurc<l
tlirough life. The advanta^'e to Lutlier of havinj;
constantly at his right hand this (piiet and pains-
takin«; student, versfnl in the current lanj^uages nf
the (lay and in the ancient tonj^ues nf Seriptvn-e, tlie
master of a clear and flowing style in composition,
sincerely devotinl to the tlefence of the same ])rin-
ciples, cannot he overestimated. His htri Com-
luuues, forming the first systematic {jresentation of
the doctrines held hy the Reformers, was pro-
nounced hv Luther an "insi)ired" l)ook. In
Septcmher, 1519, he t(K)k a position in advance
of Luther himself in holdly declaring that the
Komisli doctrine of Transuhstantiation (or the
actual transformation of the elements in the
Lord's Sup|»er into the hody and hloinl of Christ)
was entirely without scrijjtural warrant. From
this time forward Melanchthon clung to Luther,
ren<hring suhstantial and timely aid in many a
conflict.

The hold spirit (»f the Uef(>rmer, seconded by
the amazing talent of his youthful e(»-lal)or»r. en-
listed the hearty sympathy of the Humanists,
and words of encouragement flowed in upon him
from distant regions. \\'ittt'n)»erg was nrognize*!
as a centre of learning as well as of i)iety, and it
wa.s of immense importance that the " IVireptor
of (Jermany" shouhl he seen not only in hearty
accord with its chief religious teacher, hut humbly
following him as a ]>lanet follows the sun.
Luther ngoiced in all this sympathy, hut never
for a moment accommo<lated his own earnest
jiractieal spirit to the trifling and worldly temper
which marked the leaders of the Humanistic

FRIENDS. NKW AM) oLI). 69

niovrnient. I'liless inspirrd with stiin«'tliiii«,' of
liis rt4ij;ious fervor, they could not wiilk very f:ir
ill his c-onijumy. With him, l«ari)iii<^ must he
tlie han(hnai(l of reh^'ion.

The hirixe dcmaml for the writings of Lutlier,
hoth in their ori<;inal form and in transhxtions, in
France, Knirland and Sj)ain, attrstcd the rapid in-
rnase in tlie numher t)f his adherents among
the intelligent class of the CIn-istian worhl, and
llic t iilhusiasni ol" the tl^'on.L^^ of stu<ients at his
<»\vn University liUed him witli tlie hriLditest hopes
Inr the re«5enerati(>n of his heloved Fatherland.

The true character of John Ihiss, who had been
hurned as a heretic in 1415, now becoming known
to Luther throui^h the study of his works and in-
tercourse with i»rominent men amont? his followers,
he acknowh'd^M'd that he had himself lon<: been
t«'aclnng the doctrines of lluss without knowing
it. He, in conse(iuence, entered into the friend-
liest relations with the Christians of Bohemia,
who welcomed liim as the successor of their
lamented leader.

As the rage of his enemies increased, Lutlier
was much concerned lest his course should prove
injurious to the interests of his kind jtatron, the
I'^leetor Frederick, and he fre<piently thought of
withdrawing from Wittenberg on that account.
Yi\ \u- f.lt that he had l>.cii divinely called to the
work in which he was engaged, an<l dare not sur-
lender it without the clearest indications of the
will of (lod. He knew that he would be cordially
received in liohemia, and would there be in com-
parative safety, l)Ut his influence in Germany
would be forfeited were he to acc(«pt hospitality in
that ([uarter. Just at this junctun', two fearless
y"iin(_r ( icrnian nobles eanie to hi< aid. Ulrich von
Hutten and Francis von Sickingen. 11 utten

70 LrniKH, THE reformer.

IkkI in Ill's youth Ix'on ]»ln('<Ml in a cloistor, Init
flTrrte<l his escape from the tyranny of tlie monks.
He visite<I Koine nj)on several oeeasions and was
familiar with t]»ocorruj>ti«)n which there ])revaile(l.
Hein«: present at tlie Diet of Aup^hur^' in 1518,
and hearin}.; Cajetan's contemj)tuoiis reference to
the stupid CJennans, he resolved tx) cast aside all
considerations of prudence and devote himself en-
tirely to the work of arousing' the (ierman Nohil-
ity to an uneomj»n»misin«: resistance of the ]>roud
Italians. In l')17 he had puhlishe<l a treatise
of I>aurentius Valla, exposing the utterly fraudu-
lent eharacter of the re])uted " Donation of Con-
stantine," hy whieh that emperor was said to
have eonveyed the imperial eontrol of the western
l>ortion •»f liis domains, or the '' Roman Empire
of the (Ierman Nation," to the Pope, and whieh
was relied upon as the hasis of the ]>apal authority
in (lermany. Luther was amazed lieyond meas-
ure to discover from this document that the
hau<rhty j»ower which had for centuries heen op-
j>ressing his countrymen was founded upon a
forgery, and he set him.self at once to the tiu^k of
utterly demolishing the entire structure of the
Tapacy which had heen erected upon this sandy
foundation. Ilutton, upon his ])art, assured
Luther that he would stand hy him at all hazards.
He was imfortunately not himself in ])osition to
he of much practical service, hut he had a jM)wer-
ful ally in his friend Sickingen. The latter was a
knight of abundant nneans, a courageous warrior,
th(» po.s.sessor of several strong fortresses, and a
zealous champion of the i)olitical rights of the
(Ierman States. His attention having h«-en called
lo Luther's perilous situation, ln» in January,
I'j'JO, cordially invite«l the latter to accept his
hoHpiUility ancJ protection. The opening of this

FKIKM)?!, MOW AM) OLD. 71

iinexpoctc<l place of refuge appeared to Lutlur
providential, and greatly cncoiiraj^ed him. He
was thus enal)led to continue his l)(»ld assauhs
upon tlie i»apal ini(|uities, j>n'pan'<l at any mo-
ment to retiri' from \\'ittenl)ert,' and still prosecut(;
liis work upon (icnnan soil, sustainccl hy the very
foremost of his country's brave defenders.

rTTArTKPv x.

A TIIJELI-iiS TKN.

Aftku the Lc'ipzijr Disputation, LutluT, now
tlnnoiiixhly aroiisi'd, ami irritated l»y the false
reports circulated in ri'<:ard to tlu' course of the
'lehate, determined to carry his cause before a
wider trihunal. He tlien fore set aluait the pre-
paration of a series of Elucidations (rci<ohtti(m€s)
of the theses which he had maintained, discussing
at th(^ same time one or two important doctrines
not tlien t«Ki(hed upon, i. e., justification hy
faitli antl the im])urity of all human efforts. He
now in the stronirest terms allirmed that the Holy
Scriptures constitute the only infallil>le authority
in matters of faitli.

In the sprin»: of lolH appeared his Comment-
ary upon Galatians, as the (>ut<i:rowth of his
academic lectures. Knterinir fully into the spirit
of the apostle, he declared that this was his own
ej)istle — that he was wedded to it. It siH'nied to
him to have Keen written exjjressly for the ]>ur-
pose of comhatini: the very errors then ]>revalent
in the Church. With i^lowinj^ earnestness, he
applied its doctrine of free «^race, and traced the
fundamental distinction Ix'tween the demands of
tlie Law and the life-pvinj; message of the (iospel.

Ahout the same time, he hej^an the j>uhlication
f a running commentary (modestly entitled,
■Lah(»rs'') upon the Psalms, seekini; thus to
deepen the spirit of true devotion and thankful-
ness among those who had heen delivered fruiu
the bondage of idle eeremonies.
(72)

A TIKHLESS PEN. 73

In Si'j)triul)(.'r, r<.r(.iviii<x word of ihr st'iious
illiu'ss of till' Kk'ctor, lie j>roj)ar(Hl, as a inessage
of comfort which ini^^lit j)rove tinu'ly for liis
lionontl friciul and lu' hcljiful to others in similar
distress, one of the most strikinL'ly orij^nnal of his
compositions. As the snpcrstitious populace were
accustomed to call upon fourteen special saints in
time of trouhle, he desij;nates his tract Tessara-
dekas (The Fourteen), and depicts the comforts
ot the Gosi>el in view of the evils that threaten
man from seven directions, i. e., from within,
hefore, behind, heneath, to right, to left and
ahove, and then dis])lays the manifold blessings
that reach us from the same directions, last and
chi«f amon<r which is Christ Himself.

In May, 1'>L*(). aj^peand an exhaustive disser-
tation ujton "Good Works," which vividly por-
trayc<l the necessity of faith as the basis of all
Christian activity, and as the never-failing motive
lor the cheerful fulfilment of every duty devolving
upon the child of (iod. It was a complete vindi-
cation of the Evangelical doctrines against the
charge of encouraging the neglect of moral obliga-
tions. Yet how different these works of faith
from the slavish exercises by which multitudes
were vainly seeking to merit the favor of Cod!

lUit the course (»f evmts was rai>idly l»earing
the Reformer on to bolder utterances. Within
the closing months of the year lo'iO, he gave to
the j)ress the three documents which are by com-
mon consent acknowledged as his gn^atest reform-
atory ])ublications. These are entirely distinct in
character, full of life and (lurgy, and together
cover the whole Held of nee<led reformation — in
secular alTairs, in the administration of the ordi-
nances of the Churcli, and in the conce])tion of
the individual Cliristiaii life.

74 M'TIIKU, THE IlKFnKMKU.

Tho lirst of these was tlu* Address to the
Nobihty of the (lerinan Nation. Many cin inn-
stanccs had conjliiniMl to stir the national ft'cHnj^
in CJennany. T\\v pnlitical etunphcations nsuU-
ing from the constant interference of Uonum
le^'ates, their (h'niand for money to carry on tlie
supposiMl tlireatenin*; war witli tlie Tnrks. tlie
ecclesiastical taxes exacted upon all manner ai
])retexts — were holdly denounced hv many of the
most inlluential knightti of the reahn. Luther
now, impelled hy a deej)er motive to resist in
evrry way the sacrilc^nous pretensions of the
])apacy, ^'ave free sco|h' to his j)atriotic instincts.
He calls upon all the Xohlesof the land, including
the Kmi»eror himself, to recognize the sacre<lness
of their hiirh ollices, and holdly espouse the cause
of the people jiLMinst their foreipi opprt^ssors. He
notes '* three walls" of defence with which the
papists had fortified their modern Jericho: first,
the claim of se<iular supremacy; secondly, the sole
ri^ht of the Po]>e to interpret the Scriptures;
thirdly, the assertion that (►nly the Pope can call
a general council of the Church. He himself
demolish(S these walls with a few stirring hlasts
upon the trumpet of the divine \\'ord, and then
urges the Nobility to assert their (Jod-given rights,
summon a general council, and address themselves
in earnest to the work of reformation. He th^n
j»resents a catalogue of crying ]>olitical and social
ahuses of the <lay, denouncing them in {ho scath-
ing languag«> of intens(»st ])assion. The cfTeot was
ind<scril>al)le. The Address was at once the suh-
jei't of discussion in every handet. Multitutles who
cared hut little for the religious <|Uestions of the
day rallie<l around the standard of Lutlier. hailing
him as the coming deliverer of their fatherland.

But Luther was alreadv occupied in ani»thcr

A TIKKLESS PEN. 75

(liroction. It was the Cluinli, after all, that lay
nearest to liis h<*art, and he utters a hitter lain<'ntn-
tion over the Babylonian Captivity which has
rolihed even her sacred ordinances of th<ir power
to hlcss the hnnihle followei*s of ("lirist. lie
hewails a three-fohl hondajre in which the ll««lv
Supper is held: first, the withholdinir of one-
half of the sacrament — the euji — from tlu^ laity;
siH'ondly, the ahsurd doctrine of transuhstantia-
tion; thirdly, the impigus transformation of the
simj)le feast of love into tlie saerifiec of the nias8.
The discussion here hnids liim to assail the very
f<»un<lations of thi* Roman ('ath<»lic system. Ilav-
inir heard that he is to Ix^ very shortly summont^l
to reiant, under ]>enalty (^f excomnnmication, lie
mockiuLdy ofTers this fresh assault as the beginnin<^
of his recantation.

Amid the storm of invective wliich now poured
ui>on him, and the new perils to which he was ex-
j)osed hy the publication ai the bull of exeomnni-
nication, Luther was unruflle<l in his joyous con-
fidence in Go(l. Havinir smitten the enemy, he
now tvu'ns to the more con<;enial task of dejiictini,'
the bh^sscdness of the true believer. His Lib-
erty of a Christian Man, apjKarinjr in Novem-
ber, is a })n-t<nind portraiture of the hi«;her s]»ir-
itual life which lifts above the cares of earth and
releases from slavish fear of the Law. It thus
met directly the <leepest religious longings of the
age. The author fonvarded a co])y to the Po])e,
ac<-om]>anying it with a letter expressing personal
regard for the character of Leo.

A larg<' number of tracts upon practical
themes were given to the )»ress during the years
ni»w under consideration, discussing in vigorous
(lerinan the defective and o])pressive marriage
laws, usury, private confession, preparation for

76 LITIIEH, TIIK l:KK(HiMKU.

(Icjitli, tlir projH-r iisr of tlic sacraiiu'iits, etc. A
su^jji'stinii from tlu- l']l< < tnr led t<» the jMcj.anition
ot a sirii's of jMijuilar discourses upon the peri-
copes, or ajtjtointnl scriptural nadin^s for each
Sunday in tlu- year, in which liis fervent (hvo-
tional si)irit found scope for exercise and which
attained a wide circulation.

CHAITKK Xr.

THK r.Vl'AL lU LL.

Almost t'lcvcn years liiul ('la])S('(l after the Leip-
21*1 Disputation wImmi, <m June loth, l.")2(), tlic
l(>ii<i tlinatineil Bull of Excommunication was
issued at Rtnnc. A- its prcitaiation liad Ixcn cu-
trusti'd to Luther's hitterest enemies, ineludin*^
tlie relentless Kek, it laeked nothin*,' in severity of
tone. Starting with an impious ap])cal to the
offended majesty of the Lord, it invokes His aid
and that of Peter, Paul and all the saints against
the wild l»east that has heen devastating the vine-
yard. It l»rands forty-one of his Theses as '' heret-
ical, false or ctfTensive," condemns them all, and
orders that all his hooks he })urned wherever
found. Sixty days were allowed to him and his
adherents for recantation, under penalty of final
excommunication. All faithful suhjects of the
Church, secular and ecclesiastical, are summoned
to use their utmost efforts to j)lace the person of
the stubborn heretic in the i)Ower of the Pojm\

To Eek was assigned the task (►f ])romulgating
the fateful document in (iermany; but the zealous
eiTorts of the willing emissary served liut to reveal
the amazing revulsion of feeling whicli had
already l)een effected among the once submissive
(lermans. Many, enlightened by the writings of
Luther himself, utterly denied the authority of
the Pope in the premises, (ierman patriots were
lille<l with fiery indignation at this attempt to
condemn a fellow-countryman without a hearing.
The extravagant language of the document and
(77 )

78 Ll'THKU, TIIK HKFOUMEH.

the t'inplovment of a personal enemy in its jironiul-
piition jjavi' cxiusi' for qiK-stionini^ its ;:enuiiu'i 11*88.
Tlio pi'oplf scornfully talkd it ''Kok's Hull/'
LuIIkt, in a stirring tract, sunnnono<l llii' Kinpemr
aiul i)rinc'eii to resent the impertinent presumption
of this 'MUill of Antichrist." On Nov. 17th, he
drew uj), and immediately i)ul>lish( d in Latin and
(Jernian, a renewal of his appeal to a general
council, denouneinp: the Pope as an unjust judge,
a ht rriie, an anti-Christian opponent »>f tin- Holy
Scriptures, and a despiser of the true Chun li.

It was not until Si'ptend>er that the publica-
tion of the Bull in (lermany was actually hegun,
encountering then almost universal oj)pni;ition.
Th»' j)aj»al legate, Aleander, secured autliority from
the Kmjxror for the hurningof the hooks of Luther
in the Netherlands. Luther nspnnded hy j)uh-
licly casting to the frames the l)ull, and with it
the entire hody of the papal laws, amidst the
wild jul>ilati(tn (tf the stutleiits <>f the Univei-sity.

The battle was now joined in earnest.
Luther was, indi'cd, surroimded hy friends. His
own i)rince, the Elector Frederick, though care-
fully avoiding any public endorsement of Ids
t<'a('hing, c(>uld he relied U])on to demand at least
the ordinary forms of justice in the treatment of
his loyal sul»ject; l»ut even lie could n«»t perma-
nently resist the mandate of his superiors.

^^'ith the keenest anxiety all eyes were now
turned upon the young I'anperor, Charles V.
The latter was indebted for his im})erial crown in
no small degree to the suj)i)ort of the (icrman
princes, and it was fondly hoped that, U])on
fuller information, he would ]>rove a valiant de-
fender of at lea.st tht» political rights of the op-
pressed (iermans. which now found their boldest
advocate in the monk of Wittenberg.

ClIAITKi; XII

THK in;i;<» AT \\(U:.Ms.

.\« <()i;i)iN(; to tlic ]K\\K\\ tlicnry, it was \]\v duty
of the Emperor to iisc all his power in the sup-
pression of heresy. A hull of excommunieatiou
should he followed hy the nnieh-dreaded Han of
the lMnj)irc. To secure this was now the chief
aim of the new jtapal le<:ate, the unscrui»ulous
and tireless Aleandcr.

The Emperor cared little for the reli«iious dis-
putes of the day, and had no sympathy with the
national feeling of his (Jerman suhjeet,«. Trained
as a zealous Roman Catholic in Spain, he would
under ordinary circumstances have Siicriliced
Luther without hesitancy at the hidding of the
r< »])••. He now, however, resolved to make
political capital out of the discontent of (ler-
niany. He was himself just at this juncture very
desirous of securin<^ some concessions fn^n the
l'o|)e, which the latter was little disi)osed to ;^q'ant.
Presuming that he could at any time quiet the
rising storm, he refused therefore to speak the
word of command, and even fanned the ihunv of
hostility toward the ])a|)acy.

In accordance with this ]>olicy, he on Nov.
2>>th sent a message to the Elector Frederick,
requesting him to liring his Wilteiilx ig i»rofes.-<tr
with him to tlu' Diet soon to asseml)le at Worms.
This <»rder was, however, upon the urgency of the
j»apal party, afterwards n voked.

On Feh. l.'Jth, Aleander, presented to the
l>iet an ollicial connnunication from the I'ope,

80 LlTllKK, THK KKFOlOIER,

callin.; upon tlio Kinpcror and prinros of the
realm to at oner take iiu'asurt's to make the second
and linal Jiull aj^ainst the Reformer (issue<l in
January) ofTeetive. The ap])eal was supported hy
tlie lejrate in a wily oration throe hours in len«,'th,
in whieh he traced the resemblanee of Luther's
teaehini^ to that of the hated I^)hemians, and
emphasized his reji'ction not only of the papal
supremacy, hut of the final Jiuthority of a general
e«>uncil :us well. As desii^ned, this addri'ss alien-
ated from Luther not a few who sympathized with
him in his assaults upon the papacy, hut who
still regarded the general councils as infallible and
as their only resource for the correction of griev-
ances. The Emperor, who had meanwhile se-
cured the desired favors at the hands of the I^ojjc,
expressed himself as now ready to meet the desire
of the latt-r, and accordingly laid before the Diet
the draft of an edict, condemning the books of
Lutiier and onlering his arrest.

After a heated discussion, which almost led to
l)lo\vs, it wjus reported to tlie Emperor that such
a course wouM produce disturbance throughout all
(lerraany, and lu; w;us n^iuested to allow Luther
the privilege of publicly recalling his heretical
utterances. Shoul I he do this, it was hinted that
it might be well to hear his views "upon other
pcjints," i. g., upon national questions. To this
the Emperor agrce(l, and a courteous sunnnons
w:ls at once forwarded to the Reformer, assuring
hitn "safe conduct" to and from the Diet. The
papists were enraged, but helpless.

Luther promptly decided to obey the call.
Hearing that he woidd be expected to recant,
he sai<L "This shall be my n «aiitation: I ba\e
said that the Pojx' is the representative of Christ
(on earth); this I now recall, and declare that the

Tin: IIKKO AT won MS. 81

Popo is tlie eiR'iny of Christ and an einissarv <>f
tlu' devil."

On Aj)iil '2d, after cnniplttini: an uneoinjtromis-
in«; rejoinder to the pamphlet of an a.^sailant,
Catharinus, lie set out upon the journey, pre-
cecknl l)y the iini)erial lierald, and ^Mcetrd on
every hand l>y jireat thron;:s of his fellow-country-
men. Received with enthusiasm at Krfurt, he
reniained there over Sunday, and j)reached a fer-
vent sermon U])on the text: "Peace he uuio
you.'' Just as the party drew near to Worms,
tliere was puhUshed an edict forl)idding the dis-
semination of the books of Luther and tlius
clearly indieatinj^ the temi)er c)f the monarch.
In face of this, even the herald hesitat<'d to ad-
vance. S])alatin, the Elector's cha]»Iain, sent a
warning', |)ointin^' to the fate of Huss. But the
dauntless cham}>ion of the truth replied: *'I
would enter \\'orms, thoutdi there were as many
devils there as tiles uj>on tlie roofs of the houses."

In the streets of the city he was met l)y a
cavalcade of ]>rominent pcrsonaj^es and, sur-
rounded hy a thronj? of two thousand of the
jjopulace, conducted to his inn. As he alighted
from his carriage he ferventlv ejaculated: "(lod
will l>e with me."

On tlie next day, A]>ril 17th, he wai* summoned
before the Diet. It was a notahle a.ssendtly —
the Kmperor, six electoral princes, whole ranks of
the lower nohility of (lermany, and an imposing'
array of ))apal ollicials. Luther fully appnriated
the jrravity of the occasijjn and at first appeared
overawed. He was tohl that he was merely to
answer two questions : first, whether ho was
the author of certain hooks, whose titles were
read to him; and secondly. wh<ther, if ho, he
was willing to recall their content^. To the finst
6

(jiu^tion lie replied in the afTirmativc. As the
-econd was of siieh iinportanee, he rcHiuestwl that
a sliort time he j^ranted him for the j)rei)aration
of his answer — a favor which was rehutantly
jranted.

W'lien recalled late on the fnllowinj; day, he
was asked: '' Do you defend all of y«)ur hooks, or
ire you willing; to recall some thinj^s. '* Adapting
his nply («;iven in Latin) to the new form nf the
question, he deelared that some of his hooks are
purely devotional in eharaeter, and commended
even hy liis enemies. The second class of his
writiuL's are those directed ajjainst the corruptions
of the papacy: to re<"all these would hut jrive en-
coura«;ement to that horrihle tyranny. The third
class consists of his j)ul>lii'ations a«rainst individ-
uals. In these he confessed to have sometimes
used intemperate lan<;ua;ie. The doctrines tau«;ht
in these he is willing; to recall whenever refuted l)y
( itations from the projdiets or evan<,'elists. He
( losed with an eloquent and fearless appeal to
tlic Kmjtcror and ])rinccs to nuct hravi ly the re-
-])onsil)i]ity which (iod ha«l laid upon them.
I pon re<juest, the response w;is repeated in (ier-
man. The papal spokesman, after consultation,
j»ronounced the reply of Luther irrelevant, de-
clared that a refutation of his teachin«:s was un-
necessary, as they had heen already condemned
hy the Council of Constance, and demanded a
plain, direct answer to th(» ijuestion whether he
Would recant or not. Ki>in;i to the luiiiht of the
'•ccasion, he then uttered the immortal words.

" I'nh'ss convinced hy the testimony of Scrip-
ture or evident reasons (for I trust neither the
I'ojie nor councils alone, since it is certain that
they have often ern'd and contradicted thein-
ttcivesj, I am hound hy my own writinirs, as

THE IIKKO AT WoKMS. »3

C'it('<l, and my conscienro is IkUI ('aj)tivc by tlie
Word (»f (iod. Hccant I ncitluT can nor will,
since it is unsafe and dislioiust toad ;i ,'aiiist (•(►n-
sciencc. * * I cannot do otherwise. Here I
stand. So help me God! Amen."

In the midst of tlie tmipt-st that cnsiir*!, the
Emperor rose and dissolved the Diet. Summon-
ing the meml)ers attain very early the next morn-
ing, he expressed his regret at having t^o long
juirleyed with the contumaeicnis monk, and de-
clared his )»urpose, after returning the latter to
WittrnhtTg according to his i)ledge, to at once
proceed to final measures against him.

Movetl in j>art hy sympathy, more largely hy
fears of insurrection, the I)iet ]»leadcd for delay,
in order to elTect, if i)ossible, some compromise.
The Emperor granted a respite of three days.
Now it was that the fortitude of Luther was most
severely tested. A large commission of prom-
inent officials known to he kindly disj)osed to-
ward him was app(»inted hy tlie Diet. For days
these men j»leaded with him, exhausting all their
skill in endeavoring to shake his resolution. They
waived entiri'ly the point of submission to tlu*
pope, and implored him to suhnnt his writings
without reserve to the judgment of a general
council — as he had once been willing to do.
They argue<l that bloodshed would thus be ])re-
vented; that (piite a time must elaj)se before such
a council could !)<• assembled, and that the delay
would l)e favorai»l(; to his cause; that tin* very
calling of a council, in face of the (oiidemnation
already pronounce(l by tlie Tope, would be a
great victory for him; and that its decisions would
in all ]irobal>ility i»e in his favor. JUit in vain!
Luther was willing to submit his writings to any
candid tni»unal, but insist<'d that \\\vy and all

84 LITIIKH, THK HKFOUMER.

Jiuinan (locuindits must l)o finally tosti'd l>y llic
Word of God alone. Upon this ])rin(ipio he
sjtakr«l lifi- and all, K'aviiii; tin- results with (Io«l.

Hut what would now become of Luther, was
the «jUt'stion upon every han«l. Kven th(»uj;h the
jiKnlLie of safe-eon<luet, violated in the ease of
lluss, should now be faithfully kept, it would
( xpiiT within twenty-one tlays Should he then
l»e left ut the mercy of Ins foes?

A plan was soon perfected. Luther started off
amid the j)laudits of his friends. After some
days' travel the imperial fruard was dismissed.
As the eoaeh in which he rode with his traveling
companion from the monastery and his friend,
Amsdorf, was j)assing throuj^h a shaded roa<l in
the forest, a hand of horsemen suddenly fell upon
them. The monk, territied, was alloweil to es-
cajK'. Amsdorf made a show of noisy resistance
for a tim<', and was then suffered to proceed with
the fri^rlitened coachman. Luther was led hy a
circuitous route to the Wartburg, a strong castle
overlooking: the town of l'j-« ikh li.

Meanwhile, the ban of the Empire was pro-
nounce<l. The severest pi nalties were threatened
to any person who should harbor the outlaw, or
^dve him food or drink. Every faithful subject
was connnanded to aid in arresting him antl send-
ing him to the Km])eror. His books were to be
burned and their printing forever interdicted.
The language of the document was certainly suf-
lieiently vigorous, but not unwillingly doi'S tin*
j.en of history record the facts, — that it harmed
no nne, that it was the last of its kind ever pr<»-
mulgated, and that its dark anathemas can to-<lay
be deciphered only in tin* radiance rellected from
the name of ittf intended victim.

PERIOD m.

PRACTICAL REFORMATION. A. D. 1521-1546.

CIIAPTKPv I.
Tin-: WAKTHruc kxilk.

Tin-: sikMcu disai^poanmre of Lutlier awakened
intense feeling thnnij^diout Germany. Many at
once coneludi'd tliat he had heen murdered. The
shrewd Aleander surmised tlie truth, and re})orted
to Rome: "The Saxon fox has hidden the monk."
Very effect ually was he concealed, his nearest
friends havin,^ for a lon*^ time no certain knowl-
edge of his j)laee of refuir*'. Tlie Kmperor and
liis advisers, fully (»ceui)ie(l with the political dilli-
culties surrounding,' them, made no serious attem})t
to capture the fugitive, hein<; satisfied to have, as
they supposed, imposed silence upon him.

For the Reformer him.self the cham^e of sur-
roundin«rs was exhilarating. For the lirst time in
Ijis life he now lived in ease and luxury. lie
roame(l through the cai)acious grounds of the cas-
tle overlooking his heloved Eisenach, gatliering
berries in the woods and listening to the warhhng
of the hirds. Attired as a knight, with sword
by Ids side and a goliUn chain al)out his neck, he
rode at will with his valet through the neighbor-
ing villages, greatly enjoying the humor of the
sHuatiun. Occasionallv he joined in the chase,
(85)

86 LUTIIKU, Tin: HKFOHMEK.

l»ut accoiinti'*! it ponr sport. His syinpatliios
NViTe all with tlic ])onr hunted harc^, wliich scnncd
to liini a picture of thi' pt-i-sti-utecl Christians of
the day, while tlic cruel hounds were cardinals
and hishops. lie would rather liave hunted the
ht-ars and wolves that were devastating the
Church. Thus even his diversi(»ns were con-
-lantly made to furnish illustrations and su*r<rcs-
ii«»ns for the great w<»rk in which his whole soul
was enlisted.

JJitterly does he lament his enforced "idle-
ness;" yet he was always busy. \\ ith no hooks
at hand hut his (Ireek and llehrcw Bihles, heat
once addressed himself to earnest work, and
within three weeks had several important docu-
ments well under way. lie completed his com-
mentary upon the " Magnificat," sendini: it to
the puhlisher early in June. This had heen pre-
criled l>y an exposition of Psalm Ixviii.. which
hreathed the sj»irit of triumjihant joy, and consti-
tuted one of the j)roft>undest of all his writings
upon the experience of Christ.

With im]>atienc(\ hut with unsparinix severity,
In- replied to various publications of his ad-
versaries, who were appalled to (ind that the ex-
communicated and outlawed monk was as terrihle
in exile as when holding his seat of honor in the
University.

Among the positive results of thc<piiet hours of
rellection in his " Patmos," was a clear conviction
upon the suhjtHi't of monastic vows. He had
long lield that the enforced celihacy of the priests
was, according to 1 Tim. iv. 1, a doctrine of
devils; hut the vows of monks and nuns, having
heen voluntarily assumed, appeared to him to ho
of hinding force. H<' felt that their results were
evil, and longed to break the yoke of bondage

Tin: WARTHUKCJ KXILK. 87

uikKt wliifli so many thoupands were proaninpj;
yet he wouUl not countenance wront^ nor advance
a sinj^le step without clear scnptural authority.
The ar«;unient8 adduced l)y Carlstadt and Mr-
lanelithon seemed to liim insullicient. At h'n«:th
he found an adequate ground for tlie ahrogation
of these vows in the mistaken views with whicii
they had l)een assumed. They were regarded as
works of merit — a means of <^ainiii<: tlic favor of
(lod — and were lience directly opposed to the
gospel plan of salvation hy faith. Heini; oj»poscd
to tlic (Josprl, they were sinful and could have no
hindiuix authority.

For Luther, to see the truth was to he resistlessly
impelled to announce it heforc the world. With
no regard for the ]Kissil)le consecpicncc^s, his calm,
logical argument is hurled as an emancipation
proclamation from the castle walls. On every
hand, convent doors are thrown open, and the
entire structvue of monasticism is doomed.

The Komish priesthood had long maintained its
hold U])on the masses through an unscru])ulous
use of the confessional. It soon hecame known
that this secret agency was being employed to
warn the multitudes against the arch-heretic, and
to command them, under ]>enalty of eternal death,
to destroy his writings. To.counteract this scheme,
the great father-confessor of awakened (iermany
i.'^sued his Instruction for the Confessing.
He did not, as some others, advocate the aholitiMii
of the custom of auri<'ular confession, as he re-
gard<'d it, when rightly <'mploy«Ml, as a valuable
means of consohng and strengthening the weak.
He insi.sted only that it should he purely volun-
tary, and that every Christian layman was em-
powered to conduct it, sinc<' its authority was
derived not from the station of the administrant,

MS MTHKU, TIIK KEKOHMEH.

l»iit soK'ly fmni tin* divine words of pardon wliidi
it announciil to the pi-nitcnt. Thus concciv(*d,
till' ordinance was (le|>rive<l entirely of its vahie
to the hierarchy a.s a means of terrifying and con-
trolling the masses. In this form, it has continucnl
in the Clinrch to the ])resent day, exci'pt where
siipplante*! hy the general confession of the " pre-
paratory service."

With amazement I^nther now learned that the
('ardiiial-areh)>ishop, All)rei']jt of Mayenee, the
former patron of Tetzel, had hej^un the sale of in-
dulgences upon a irrand scale at llalle. That the
foremost e<'c]esiastieal princ*e of Clermany should
have the i-tfrontery to thus ignore all that had
occurri'd in the stirring half-diH'ade just passed
seen)(^l incredilde, Th<' author of the Ninety-
live Tliesesat once prepare<l a lieree denunciation of
the ''new idolatry at llalle," hut, induceil hy the
alarmed Elector, consentt»<l to delay it8 puhliea-
tion an<l content himself with an exccHilingly
plain letter to the Arehhishop. He demands
from him a reply within fourteen davi^, Und de-
dans that, if a siUisfactory response is not riveivcd
within that time, he will show the whole world
tin- dithrenee hetweeu a hishop and a wolf. Tho
jiroud cardinal hastt-ned to prostrate himself as a
"poor sinful worm" at the feet of the outlawed
heretic, and the side of indulgences ceiLsed.

Hut it was only under compulsion that Luther
" wa.sted " th(? pn^ious hours in controversial
writing. His favorite lahors were those devoted
to the eililication of the little hand of j>ersecuted
hrlicvers. He n'joieed in the opj>ortunity now
alT<ird<-d of continuing his l>;itin Exposition of
the Psalms, hut soon turne<l from this to the
still more congenial task of preparing sermons in
German upon the appointed scripture lessons for

TlIK WAlCTHLiai KXILK. 89

the successive Sundays of the chiircli-ycar. Tliese
w«'iv publislied in sirtions uncliT tlu* title, Church
Postils, the series l)eing completed in later years
hy frirnds of the Hifornier. Bcsiilcs being eaj^erly
bouirht by the laity, they were read from many
j)ulpits and became models for thousands of sim-
ilar discourses, j)rovin«; thus a most elTcctive
means of brin^irini^ the great truths of salvation
home to the hearts of the })eople. Luther him-
self considered them the best of all his writings.
While outspoken in di-nuneiation uf }>ai>al errors,
they emphasize the great doctrines of rejientance
and grace, and are pervaded by a tone of lofty
confidence in the final triumj)h of the truth.

Toward the close of the year 15*21 was begun
the greatest work of tbr Reformer's life, the
translation of the Bible from the original
tongues into the language of the connnon peo|>le.
F()r such a task he had jx'culiar fitness. His
vivid imagination and his deep spiritual nature
enabled him to catch the spirit of the sacred
writers, while his thorough familiarity with the
conmion language and the aspirations of his own
beloved countrymen enabled him to express the
inspired thought in simple, toucliing phrase
which made it appear almost as a new revelation.
No j)ains were spared to make the work as nearly
])erfect as possible. lie studied the language of
the })easants in their homes and upon the street,
and talked with meclianics as they plied their
trade. Portions of the work were given to the
press from time to time, and within less than
three months the entire New Testament was com-
])lete(b It was only, however, after th(»rough
revision in conjunction with liis learned associ-
ates at Wittenberg, tliat the work appeared in
September, 1522.

niAiTrn ii

A TKMPICST STILLED.

The unrif?]ito<nis edict of Worms served to rc^
veal alike to friend and foe how thoroiiudily tli(»
teaehinjxs of the desj)ised monk had permeated
all classes of the (hrinan nation. Feel»le ctVort.s
wri'v made here and tliere to enforce its reiiuire-
inents in the hurnini^ of the hooks of Luther, ))ut
these could hut awaken ridicule. On every hand
the power of pope and Emperor was dehe<l.
Anonymous ])amphlets, passinj^ from hand to
hand, depicted with keenest satire the course of
events at Worms.

The University at Wittenberg, deprived of
its illustrious h«'a<l, was still rri^arded as the cen-
tre of spiritual illumination. To it eajzer students
Hocked from distant lands. The course of study
was greatly enlari^ecl under the direction of liUther,
and vigorous young scholars of evan<r<'li<'al views
were called to till the newly-estahlished profes-
sorial chairs. The popularity of the youthful
professor of Circek, Melanchthon, was unhounded.
All learning was there made subservient to the
proper understanding an<l illustration of the Scrip-
tures, and the dauntless spirit of the great He-
former appeared still to jtervade the wliole eom-
niunity.

Sueii ( ntliusi:ism couM not long remain with-
out practical results. Why should the ahuses
he longer tolerated which ]>ul)lic sentiment now
8o heartily condemnecl ? Should all tins throb-
bing energy l)e wasted in mere wortls? O, for an
(IK);

A TKMrKST STILLKI). 91

intrepid leader! Mehmchthon, the timid student,
couki not undertake such a task. Where should
the new Luther he found?

How natural that iiuompetent, impetuous spir-
its should now eome to the front, and that, as the
exeitc'd }>opula('e followed them, reekless violence
should mark the lirst assaults U])on lon^-estab-
lished customs. In the Auirustinian monastery
of the town, a monk, named Gabriel Zwilling,
cnterinjj; the jiulpit which Luther had Ioiil,^ Idled,
assailed with vehemence the abuses of the mass,
demanded that the cup be granted to the laity,
denounced the monastic system, and finally, with
twelve associates, publicly renounced his allegiance
to the monastery. The incident caused great ex-
citement in the connnunity, and was accompanied
with violent demonstrations. Similar scenes were
eiiaete.l at Krfurt and elscwh.re. A general
convention of the Augustinian Order ol" (Jer-
niany, held at Wittenberg in January (at which,
however, but few ollicials from al)road were i)res-
ent), proclaimed that no one should be compelled
to remain in a monastery against his own con-
victions of duty, and admonished all, whether
dej)arting or remaining, to conduct themselves
j)eaeeably and devote themselves to useful labors.
This action was taken in pursuance of advice re-
ceived directly from the absent "brother" at the
Wartburg, an<l was in reality an entire surrender
of the principle upon which the maintenance of
the monasteries depended. Many of the monks
availed themselves of the liberty thus granted,
but failed to ol»scrve the aecomjianying admoni-
tion, and the disturbances continued.

Among the ])rofessors at th(? University was
Carlstadt, a man of marke«l talent and restless
energy, but fickle, conceited and imprudent — in

\)1 LlTIIKi:, TIIK 1IEF(1RMER.

arjiunicnt or action always taking \\\v socond step
iK'fore tho first. After the Leipzig Disputation
he ha«l withdrawn his support from Luther and
again courted the favor of tlie I'hureh, hut he
now sudtU'nly appeared as a reformer far in ad-
vance of Lutlier. lie declared it to he not only
a privilege hut the duty of the clergy to marry,
]»ronounced it a sin to remain in a monastery,
and ]>roposed all manner of social innovations.
He upon liis own res])onsihility administered the
cup to the laity, made contempt for the estah-
lislied fast-days a test of piety, and urged the
jM.pulace to tear down the ])ictures in the churches
an«l destroy the altars.

In the midst of the tumultuous scenes w Inch fol-
lowed, there appearcil three men from Zwickau,
calling themselves prophets. Tliey claimed to
have received direct revelations from (iod in vis-
ions, and to he authorized to estahlish a new
spiritual kingdom. They denounced infant ]>ap-
tism as especially ohnoxious, and announced that
the end of the world was at hand. Mullitu(U»s
were deceived hy the exalted claims of these men.
Va'vw Melanchthon waviTcd and knew \\o\ how to
meet their arguments, receiving one of them, a
former pupil of his, into his own house. C'arl-
stadt at once hecame a zealous convert, adopting
the wildest mystical notions, and advising his
students to ahandon their studies and ai>i)ly them-
selves to useful lahor. Soon all was in confusi«»n.
Hundreds forsook the University and departed to
their homes, carrying the fanatical id(\»s through-
out all (rcrmany. It was reported that even Me-
lanchthon was ahout to leave in despair.

And all thiswasat Wittenherg, thecentreof evan-
gelical truth. The natural result, exdaimed the
adversaries, of the teachings of the heretical monk!

A TKMPEST STILLED. 93

"Put a^ovo the tumult tlicrf was ono unclouded
mind — one heart undaunted. As hv instinct,
Lutlier, from the m<'a«:re reports reaehin«; him,
comprehended the situation of his heloved
A\'iltcuhcrj4crs, and resolved to prove liis loyalty
to them and to the greater cause imperiled hy
their folly. Already in Deeeniher he had, in
knightly disguise, journeyed to Wittenherg an<l
made personal investigation of the condition of
affairs. r])on his return, he had puhlished his
Faithful Warning against Insurrection. He
had cahnly viewed the vagaries of the Zwickau
prophets ; hut now, as the agitation overleaps
all hounds, he notifies the Elector that he pro-
poses to hid farewell to his secure retreat and
return to the post of duty. A hold stc]), in-
deed I lie is still an outcast from the Church and
an outlaw in the land. The disturhances at ^^'it-
tenherg have alienated many of his friends and
encouraged his enemies to fresh z<'al. The repre-
sentatives of the nation, assemhled at Nuremberg,
have just resolved on aggressive measures to make
the edict of \\'orms effective. The P'lector can
afford no protection outside of the castle walls,
and j)lainly tells Luther so. Promptly comes the
resjjonse: " I go forth under a far luLdier than an
Elector's protection. * * ^> He whoso faith is
strongest will in these davs prove the best pro-
tector."

Arriving at Wittenberg, March bth, a few days
are spent in (juiet consultation with friends. On
Sunday, the Oth, he ascends the ])ul|»it of tlu^
parish church and in a series of eight daily ser-
mons announces his own views upon the (pies-
tions in disi)Ute and carries with him ri'sistlessly
the convictions of his hearers. He first sunnnons
them to serious rellcction in view of a])proaching

'.♦4 I.rrHKK, THK hkfoumkk.

• loath and jinlpiu'iit, and presses liome tlic jrreat
tluMnes of repentance and faith. He tlien cordially
apphuids the enerjrv of their faith and their eoiir-
aixe in hein;; the lirst to aholish the ahoniinahle
idolatry of tin* mass. With the tone of an ag-
grieved father, he deplores their readiness to follow
stranL'e leailcrs and censures their Mind zeal and
their lack of Christian love in demanding; outward
compliance with the new order of things upon
the part of those whose con.scicnces are not yet
-ulliciently enlightened. He dirlares that no one
can he driven to faith, hut tliat the Word must he
diligently prcacheil an<l allowed t«> gradually, hy
its own i)owcr, jmt error to ilight.

The success of tins }iatcrnal appml was im-
mediate and complete. The calm dt-mcanor of
thi- great leader, his persuasive el(njUcnce, and
the clearness of the j>rinciples announced — in
striking contrast with the inconsistent ravings of
the i)rophcts — proved irresistihle. Not a single
voice was raised in opp(»sition. Zwilling ahan-
<loncd his wild notions and hecamc a disciple of
Luther and a humhle j)reacher of the (lospel,
Carlstadt relapsed into silence. The storm was
stilled. All fears vanishecl, and peace reigned at
Wiltiiiherg. The pilot was at tlie In Im.

ClIAl'TKi; III.

RENEWED ACTIVITY AT WITTENBERO.

XATruAi.LY, without fear and witlioiit exulta-
tion, Luther now resumed his place as the
rulini^' spirit of the University and villaire. His
word was law, and the stormy i)ast seemed like a
dnam. He does not appear to have at once
midrrtaken regular academic lectures, as that por-
tion of his earlier lahors was hein^^ well done hy
others. Before many months, however, we find
him expounding whole hooks of the Bible to
eager throngs of students.

The first practical (juestions «leinandinfr atten-
tion were thos(^ relating to the public worship of
the e()ngregations, particularly of the ])arish
church, of which th(; Reformer was the ]>astor.
Here he preached twice every Sunday, and as
soon as ])ractical)le arranged for a daily devotional
service, in which the chief place was assigned to a
practical exposition of the Scriptures. He con-
ducted also an early morning service in tlic
Auixustinian monastery every Sunday.

Disapproval of th(^ reckless course of the late
self-appointeil lead(.>rs foimd ]»ositive ('X])ression in
the restoration of nearly all the customs which
had been violently ahan<loned. Luther insisted
that scrupulous regard must in all cases he mani-
f(?sted for the prejudices of the unenlighten(Ml, and
that no long-established c(Temonies should be
changed until the mass of the congregation had
by faithful preaching been prej»ared t<» accept the
advanced measures. Subordinating entirely his
(<Jo)

96 Ll'TIIEK, THE REFORMER.

own personal preferences, he restored the services
of llie public mass, rt'tnininj: as harmless the
name, whirh ilio extninists had rejected, and
omitting only those portions which savored dis-
tinctly of idolatry and human j)resumption. The
pictures which liad escaped the ictnioelastic storm
were permitted to remain, with merely a warning
from the j)ulj>it and through j)uhlishe«l tracts
against tlic al»iiscs ct)nnectcd with them. The
Latin language was again introduced in tlie fa-
miliar liturgiial formularies. The cup was ad-
ministered in the Lord's Supj>er only to those who
desired it, and to such at sj)ecial times, in order
not to offend the consciences of those who clung
to the old method. Even the elevation of the
host, which had heen so closely linked witli tho
Worship of the conseciate<l elements, was ntained
for several years as an ixj>rcssion of reverence and
thankfulness. Candles and the ordinary clerical
vestments found their j)lace again as ancient cus-
toms. All these outward forujs were regarded as
matters of indifference, not worth contending
about, to he regulated from time to time in ac-
cordance with the growing intelligence of tho
people.

The chief aim was to give ]»rominence to tho
proclamation of the pure Word of (Jod, and
ill the new onit r of woi>hip which Luther him-
s<lf prepared in 1023, he demanded a jilace for
this in the very mi<lst of the service, al)hreviating
and simplifying the latter, and providing for thi'
gradual superseding of the Latin hy appropriate
f«>rms in the national t<»ngue.

Kspe<'ially did Luther seek to cniourage tho
participation of all the assemhled people in tho
services of praise, lie pleaded personally with
tljo.Ho ol lii- a->«H iales who were known to pitssess

KXTKNDTNG INKI.rKNCK. 97

iMutical or nuisical talent to prepare suitable Oer-
iiiaii livmnR, hiused upon tlie Psalms, or other por-
tions of the Seriptures. KaiHn.ir to secure adiMjuate
rrsponse, he himself undertook the work, display-
ing,' a «:ift hitherto entirely inisusj)ccted l)y himself
or others. The martyrdom of two brave young
eonfessoi*s of the truth at Hrussds, in the summer
of ir)23, impelled him to jrive utterance to his
«leej> feeling in a stirring ode in connnemoration of
their fidelity, which was soon ujion the lij>s of the
multitude. Karly in lo'it a]i])ean'd at Witten-
berg the first collection of evangelical hymns
in the (ierman language, there being but eight in
all, live of which were from the \)vn of Luther.
He com])osed and j»ublished twenty more within
the same year, by which time the enthusiasm of
others had been aroused to activity in this new
field, and the foundations laid for the rich and
matchless hymnology of the German Lutheran
church. The lal)ors of the Reformer in this di-
reetion culminated about iry27, in the j)reparation
of his immortal battle hynni: ''lun feste Burg ist
unser (Jott."

Hut the chief energies of the period now under
review were devoted to the continuance of the
translation of the Bible The work done at the
\\'artl)urg was thorougidy revised, appearing in
complete form in SeptcndxT, 1522. The more
serious task of giving idiomatic ex])respion to the
ruggetl and often doubtful forms of the ancient
Hebrew writers was coiiragcously undertaken.
.\urogalIus, the new ])r(>fessor of Hebrew at the
I'niversity, and Melanchthon rendcretl constant
and valuable assistance, especially in fixing the
exact meaning of the original text, and in discov-
ering the nearest equivalents in Clerman for un-
usual terms, but the imprctsii of the Reformer's
7

98 LUTIIEK, TIIK REFOUMER.

mind was upon every line of the oomplctod work.
As it K'ft tljc pnss, appoarinj; in sections durinj^
tlic vtars l'>L'.*i-ir)i>4, it was fn)ni first to last
Luther's version of the sacred volume. Thouj:h
publishid without mention of the translator's
name, the introductions to the separate hooks, the
terse marpnal notes, and the general preface ex-
altinj; the Kpistic to the Romans, witli its doe-
trine of justification l»y faith, as the k«'y to the
whole Scriptures, left no (lou)>t in any mind as to
its source. No one stopped in that age to think
of the excellence of the tran.^lation. It was
accepted by all classes, save the i»ronounced
paj.i>l.<, as tlie i>ure and simple Word of (lod res-
cued from the mass of human traditions hy the
fearless champion of the truth. Its condemna-
tion hy tlie authorities of the corrupt church hut
eontirmed the conviction that the latter were de-
ceivers who could not endure the light, and in-
creased the jtopular demand for the work. It
remains to-day, substantially unchanged. Not
only has it heen the channel through which the
message (»f divine grace has reached the ma.«ses of
theCJerman nation; hut it has given fixed literary
form to the (lerman language itself, which was at
that time in a formative stage. The peasant's
son, who felt his nation.ality tingling in every
vein, who had ahsorhe<l the wisdom of the schools
and sounded the depths of foreign ttnigues with-
out surrendering his native power of forceful ut-
terance, here voiced the highest truths in forms
8o natural that even his enemies could hut accept
them as final, and the th(Hilogian, seeking the
eternal well-heing of his countrymen, unwittingly
became the literary dictator of tlie nati«»n.

("Iiaiti:k IV.

KXTKNI)I.\(; IMHENCE.

TnE consciousness of his liij^li callinir as tlio
leader of a ^reat movement emhracini; not ( Jermany
alone, l>ut the entire Western Cluncli, \vas now
fully awak( ned in Lutlier. and his position as
such was recognized even l>y his ])itti*rest ene-
mies, 'i'he zealous paj)ist, Kin«^ Ferdinand, who,
in theal)scnce of his brotlier, the Emperor, wielde<l
the imperial sceptre, informed the latter in l.ri.'J
that scarcely (»ne man in a thousand could he
found in the realm who was not in some measure
infected with the new heresy.

Luther fully realized* the responsibility
■which thus rested ujm.u him and cai-nestly s(tu,L,dit
to lay deep foundations for the future welfare of
Church and State.

The cpicstion of the proper training of the
young and the instruction of the ipiorant mass«>s
in the rudiments of savinir doctrine pressed
heavily U))on him. He had these classes mainly
in view in his exj)osition of the Ten Comman*!-
ments from the ])ul])it in 151(). A\'ith character-
istic distrust of his own fitness for the undertaking:,
he now earnestly requested various friends to
jirepare for general use a scries of simple (piestions
and answers coverinfir the cliief articles of Christian
faith. He at leuL'th secured the oflicial appoint-
ment of Justus Jonas, the ])rovost of the Cni-
vcrsity, and his talented friend. Aj^ricola, for the
work of preparing: uj)on this plana "children's
catechism,'' and ea<_'erly awaited the result of
their labors.

(99)

100 Ll'TIlKK. Till-: KKKOKMKR.

W"i\]\ the ij^norant fanatirism whicli regards
gt'iHTal I'lliication as liostilf to i»i<'ty, Liitlicr had
nevtT the sh^rhtest syinpatliy. He hewailcd tlie
illitcniry of the masses. Alrcajly in 1520, in his
Addrc'is to thr yohi/idf, he had ur^^ed tlie necessity
of the eareful trainiii«r of the younp, and now tliat
he found men dceryinj; all edueation, and the
town school of Wittenherj^ transformed into a
bakery, he was tilled with the deejx'st anxiety.
Ajjain and airain he lifted up his voice in hchalf
of the ncirlectcMl youtli, and in l.")24 pul>lisln'd an
earnest a|»|)eal '"to all hur^nniastcrs an<l councilors
in (icrnian lands." imj»lorin«^ them to estal>lish
local schools at the puhlie expense. lie ar;:u(<l
that hut a portion of the money once so freely
s<iuandered ui)on in<lulg<Mices, masses and pil-
grimajxes would sufliee to ensure an ade<juate
training of the risin<; ireneration, and maintain<<l,
with a convincing energy never since excelled,
that the puhlie safety was far more dependent
upon the general intelligence than uj)on arma-
ments or hoarded wealth. Nor were these ap-
peals in vain. Pastor lUigenhagen re-opened the
school at Wittenherg. Educati<>nal work wjls
organized on abroad basis at Magdeburg, Nurem-
berg, and other inlluential centres under the
direction of Luther nnd Melanchthon, the Tni-
versity of A\'ittenberg furnishing enthusiastic
teachers. Luther himself in 1.')!.'') traveled to
Eislcben to participate in the estal»lishmcnt of a
8cho(>l in thei)laceof his birth, which was at once
committed to the oversight (»f his friend, .\gricola.

Full recognition was al.<o given by the Reformer
U) the claims of higher education He main-
tjiined the importance of the study of the ancient
languages, not only because they are the sheath
in which the keen blade of the Spirit is carrie<l,

EXTENDING INKIAKNCE. Idl

l)Ut for tlic'ir l)r(iaiU'nin<: inlUu'ncc upon tlio mind.
While (k'lioiiiuin^ philosophy as sliocr folly, and
human culture as vanity, wht^n they attcnijjt to
usurp the plaei' of rdiirion, he regarded all science
antl art as natural allies, an<l ur^'ed their eifltiva-
tion as tending to develop the ])owers which the
Creator lias wisely and L^raeioiisly hest«)We«l upon
man.

Serious financial questions wi re involved in
the great chan^'es wrouudit hy the new doctrines.
What should l)e done with the al)andoned monas-
teries and their valuahle j^roperty ? The lar.La^ en-
dowments for the support of ])ul>lic and private
masses could in many ])laees no longer he em-
ployed in accordance with the will of the testators.
Many bequests to monasteries had heen made hy
nohle families, mainly as a ])rovision for the sup-
port of their indigent nuinhere who, it was
thought, would find in these institutions a seeure
home through life. Those who still cherished the
expectation of a return to the old order of things
protested against the employment of these funds
in any other than a literal accordance with the
terms upon which they had heen given. lUit it
soon heeame evident that such were hut idle
dreamers. The whole organization of society had
heen j)ermanently changed, and some new dispo-
sition must he made of these now useless posses-
sions.

No one realized the extent of these difficulties
more keenly nor faced them more hravely than
di<l Luther. He maintained, as a general ]>rinci
j)le, that endowments estahlished for the sup-
port of unchristian methods «>f diviiu^ worship
could now he rightly apj>lied oidy for the further-
ance of the same ultimate end hy ])rojK'r and
Chri-tian niel]i<»ds. lA:iii<j(]i<:d p.istois, regularly-

102 LimiEK, THE HEFORMER.

called, were eiititlrd to the income of parishes
on<-e uiuKr the jurisdiction of Ktuiiish priests, hut
cuuKl not lUniand this where the okl order 8till
prevaiK'd. Monasteries should hecoine 8eh(K>ls
lor the eoninjon iK-ople, and tlieir endowments
might 1k' emi»h»ye(l f(»r any of tlie legitimate pur-
poses t»f edueation or religion. First of all, how-
ever, a suitahle portion <>f the invcstitl funds
shouUl he nturnnl to tlie indigent luirs of those
from whom the donations hail originally eome,
sinee the support of these was a j)art of the design
of the donors. Si'C'ondly, jirovision should hemaiie
for the maintenanee of the aged inmati's of the
eloisti'rs and of the j>oor and unfortunate in every
community. Only when these j)rimary demands
of justice and charity should have heen justly
met might the claims of education and worship
V)e asserted. The views of Luther U]>on these
questions were widely inllucntial, hut sehloin
attained com]>lete triumjth over the schemes of
grasj)ing oflicials or the ru«h' violcnee of an ex-
cited populace. IIelament<'d : ''The world mu.st
still he the world, and Satan its prince : I have
done what I could."

In the midst of thtsc general cares, I.uthrr wa.s
constantlv hesieged l)y a multitude of escaped
monks and priests deposed for the expression
of evang( li« al views. He felt a njcasure of per-
sonal responsihility for the helples*^ condition of
such, welcomed them to his tahle, and spare<l no
effort to secure for them o])|K)rtunities of earning
a livelih*o<Ml. We still }H»ssess many letters writ-
t**n hy him in the interest of such individuals to
princes, past<»rs and the <lire<tors of manufactur-
ing j-stahlishments throughout (iermany. He was
jM'<-uliarly intereste<l in the case of nine nuns who
at East4.'r, in 1523, after appealing in vain to their

EXTEXm.NC INriA'ENcE. lOo

relatives to scciiro tlicir iL-lcase from unwillin«^
hondage, oscaiK'd l»y iii«;lit fn»in a convent at
Niniptzsc'h and came to Wittenberg. lie pn))-
licly commended their courageous course, found
temporary shelter for tlicm, and was soon gratified
in seeing them nearly all well and j)ermanently
I)rovided for, several having heen married t<» hon-
orable and well-to-do citizens.

People in all manner of distress ap]>lied to
him for aid. To some lie secured the restoration
of proj)erty wrongfully taken from them ; others
were by his intercession relieved from the l>ay-
ment of oppressive fines. Mothers appealed to
him for counsel in regard to the marriage of their
children, and young ladic^s enlisted him as an
advocate in overcoming the oj (position of relatives
to their chosen suitors. He wrote many letters of
consolation to th(» sick, the imi)risoned and the
]>ereaved, displaying the most delicate sympathy
and always connecting his counsel intimately with
some ai)propriate passage of the divine Word.
These private letters not infre<iuently found their
way ([uickly into print and carried comfort every-
where to the homes of the afllicted. They give
us a profound insight into the KefoniKT's tenderly
sensitive nature, and mark him as the most in-
tensely human of all the world's great leaders,
the Ai>uslle I'aul alone excepted.

CIIAITKr. V.

THE OLD ENEMY.

When Lutlicr liad so heroically niaintaiind In's
j>ositi(»n at Worms, the breach with the Church
of Koine was rceo^nizcil on all liaixls as (•(•niplctc
and <in:il. On all essential points hf had fortified
his doctrinal position, and had no di'sire to rcn<'\v
discussion with his adversaries, who could hut
re-assert their views and cite in their suj)j)ort the
utterances of fallihle men and the notoriously
unreliahle deliverances of po]>es an<l councils.
He soUL'ht now only the further development of
the doctrines which he had found so mnnistak-
al»ly tau.Ldit in the divine Word, and their appli-
cation to the necessities of the awakening church
life. True, his opinions of the ini<|uity (»f the
papal hierarchy and the hlasj)hemous character
of its claims were hut confirmed in the course of
his studies, and he l(»st no suitahle opportunity
to pive open utterance to his implacahle hostility.
Ihit he souj^ht not controversy. As his now ex-
ult.'int foes ass:ule<l him on every hand, he re-
plied their elTusions with silent contempt, or
turnrd tliem over for refutation to the hands of
his followers. A few prtunincnt assailants were,
however, still prante<l the honor of a direct reply,
lest the dijrnity of their names should pive cur-
rency to their perverh'd views.

The University of Paris had loni: dis]»layed

a decree of indeju-ndenee in its relati<»ns to the

papacy which led Luther and his associates to

iinticipate a favoral»le disposition upon its part

(104)

Tin: (>M) KNKMY. Ill")

toward their ofTorts to t'lnancip.-itc tlio enslaved
nations. At the tirn«' of the Leipzig Disputation,
Luther had l)een wilHnir to suhniit liis views for
critical examination to tliis unjjrejudieed and en-
liirhtened trihunal. The theoloLnans of the insti-
tution then avoided an expression of tlieir views,
hut had since i)raetieally ran,ire<l tlienjselves upon
the side of his enemies. Now, in A)>ril, 1521,
they east olT all reserve, ])ul>lishinLX a ioui^ list of
citations from his writini^s, which tiiey denounced
as "poisonous, outrageous and ])estilential here-
sies." As these learned men, however, contented
themselves with denunciation, and did not under-
take to refute any of the heretic's ern^rs, the
latter r(\i^arded their assault with unconcealed
contempt. He allowed Mclanchthon to re)»ly in
Latin, and then })ui)lished a translation of hoth
documents, })receded and f(>llowed hy a few
caustic comments of his own, pronouncinf? the
faculty of Paris ''full of the snow-white lejtrosy
of antichristian heresy from the crown of the head
to the sole of the foot." lie shrewdly called
puhlic attention to the fact that, whereas his chief
contention with the enemy had hitherto heen
upon the suhject of papal su])remacy, this valiant
<lefender,of the faith was entirely silent u])on that
point, thus practically concedin<i: his ])()sition in
the great controversy, and revealini: the Imllow-
ness of the hoasted miity of the Romish Church.
An annual l)ull had for a luunlter of years heen
issued from Rome just hefore the Kaster festival,
entitled the Bull of the Supper of the Lord,
emhracing a list of all the (hunnahle heresies
which had ])revailed in the Church. In the year
loJl, the name of Luther a])peared in this t<'rrilic
d«Hument, following those of \\'icklilTe and IIus.s.
Ueceiving a copy at the Warthurg, Luther i)uh-

100 LUTHKU, THK KEKOKMKK.

li.sli(Kl, as ft *'Nt'w Year's (Jrcctinp*' for tlio
rn|M\ a r«j..in<l,T cutitltMl : The Bull of the
Evening Gormandizing of our Most Holy
Lord, the Pope, ciuotiiij^ in tlie caidion iIk*
^vo^(ls nf the Uuth I'sahn: *' His nioutli is full <»f
cursing and deceit and fraud,'' and representing
the great head of tlio Chureh, after a luxurious sup-
per, opcninjx his mouth in drunken frenzy to curse
all the world in harharous and incolierent Latin.

A new assailant apj)ean-d in the same year — no
less a j»ers(>na.i:e than King Henry VIII., of
En<;lantl, who at this jun< turc had special rrasniis
for eultivatin^' the <^ood will of the Pope. Layinj^
aside the di,LMiity heeoniini: his stati(»n, and j»rid-
ing himself upon his rather meagre literary attain-
ments, this monareh of a great nation, who during
the session o( the Diet at Worms had urged the
Kmperor to employ the severest measures for the
suppression of the heretic, now condescends to a
personal attack upon the poor monk in a foreign
land. Professing to defend the Roman Catholic
doctrines of the Lord's Supper, indulgences and
the supremacy of the Pope against the strictures
of Luther in his Jiahylonidn Oiptivitt/^ he de-
nounces the Reformer in the coarsest and vilest
terms. The work was dedicated to the l*ope, and
earned for its author the title, " Defendt^ of the
Faith," which is still j)roudly wt>rn hy the Pro-
testant monarchs nf England, not without some
aversion, we mav fancy, ils they recall its rathiT
duhious origin. A special Hull was issued fn»m
Ronje, assuring to every (»ne wliosht)uld read tliis
royal defence nf the truth an indulgence releas-
ing him from ti-n years' pain in purgatnry, a favor,
we may surndse, not so readily granted when, thir-
teen years latrr, this same king severetl i\\o Kng-
lish chunli fn»m all allegiance to the papal throne.

THE OI.I) KNKMY. 107

To cnaMi' all (Icnnans to socuro {hv j.roiiiiscfl iii-
(lulgt'iice, the docuinent was, hy tliirction of
Lutiu'i's inveterate- enemy, Duke CJeoi}^e of Sax-
ony, translateil into their lan^ua-^'c and widely
seattereil. It never, however, apj>r«)aehed the eir-
euhition of the counter-i)ublieation of Luther, in
wliich, after a patient re-statenient and defenee of
the views assailed, the supreme importanee of
faith was stron;^dy asserted, and full ])lay tlien
j^iven to the Reformer's indiLMiation and eontempt,
eoverin«^ the royal antagonist with opprohrium.
*' These two,"* he declared, "Henry and the
Pope, just suit to<^ether — two donkeys hrayin*; to
one another." So terri})le was the rehuke thus
administered, that Luther's own friends were af-
frij^hted, and the iistonished monarch comi>lained
hitterly to the German j)rinees of the grievous in-
jury he had received at the hands of the sliame-
less monk.

A peculiar means of attack employed by a
j)aniphleteer, ())r/ihni.^, in 1523, deserves passing
notice, as illustratiuL; a cliaracteristic of the age.
The helief in the significance of portents, or any
unusual a])pcarance in the natural world, was
aluKJst universal. The puhlieation referred to
describes a calf, born at Freiburg, having a bald
pate, a 'monk's cowl hanging about its neck, a
mouth like a man's, and frcijUently gesticulating
like a preacher in the i»ulpit. Of course this
could only ])orten«l dire disaster to the land, indi-
(*ating clearly enough the monk of Wittenberg as
the cause of the coming calamities, Luther |tn)ved
more than a match for his antagonists, however,
even in the interpretation of such profound mys-
teries, lie replied that the calf was a symbol of
the absurdities of monasticism, foun<l a counter-
part of each diiformity in some featun; of the

108 Ll'TlIEU, THE IlEFOKMEK.

effete system, and puMishcd his cxplanati<»ii with
a strikinjx j>ictiirc of the famous heast ainl lA an
etjually strange creature found dead in the Tiher
a (juarter of a century before — an ass, having
some remarkahle resem!)huu'es to the person of
the I'oi»e, the latter case being eh^arly described
l)y tlie jx'U of Melanchthon. As may be imagine«l,
this ilhistratid pul»htation proved very p<>j)ular,
and pik^sed through a number of editions.

CIIAITKli V

FALTEin.NX; ALLIE:?.

We have scon tlio sympathy of Luther with tlie
Iliiinaiiistic movement. Its leaders in (ierniany
were anionic his early assoeiates at the University,
and with many of them he eontiiUKMl to maintain
the friendliest relations. He share<l their love of
learninir, and they sympathize<l with him in his
free eriticism of the blind do<;matisin of the past.

I>ut the Humanists, as a rule, weri' strangers
to the moral earnestness of Luther. They were
Epicureans in temper, if not in profession. They
dreade<l strife and were ready to make almost any
saerifice of their eonvietions if they might only
pursue undisturbed their favorite studies. Not a
few of them were, in the course of the conHiet,
drawn into full sympathy with the religious
moveuK'nt and became very valuable promoters
of the Reformation. P)Ut the majority gradually
withdrew their su})port from Luther, and either
amused themselves by satirizing the contestants
upon either side, or avoided the cpiestions of dis-
pute entirely. Luther spoke scornfully of the
pusillanimous spirit of these enlight<'ned men, but
did not seriously grieve over their departure, as he
had never fully trusted them. His deeply reverent
nature had always been re])elled by the trilling
way in which they dealt witli sacred themes.

More serious was the widening breach between

himself and Erasmus, the acknowledged leader

of the Humanists. The latter was a man of

really extensive and accurate learning, a diligent

(lO'.l)

11<) I I rHKI{, TIIK REFORMEH.

stiulcnt. and tl»e master of an elegant Latin diction.
He liad rmderiHl lurinanent scrvite hy his investi-
gatinns of ancient vt'rsit»ns of tlie Scriptun s and l>y
the puhliiation of a(Jrcck New Tistanunt. \\v had
travclc<l wi(h ly, rcsidini; and teaching in London,
Oxford, ('ainl)ridgc, in France, Italy and llolhnul.
He, and tlie great llehrew scholar, Kcuclilin,
were called the " Kyes of (Jermany." By his
keenly satirical writings against prevailing ahuses,
whicli were most widely circulated, he had j)re-
pared the minds of many among the educated
classes foranopen ru]»ture\\ iththechurchof Koine.
Luther entertained a liigh regard for the attain-
ments of Erasmus, ami tlie latter at lirst welcomed
the \H)h\ utterances of tlie monk as tending to
hreak tile sliackles of n)e<na'val dogmatism. An
occasional correspondence sprung up hetween
the two men, initiated hy Luther, who was very
anxious to secure as far as possihle the scholarship
and iniluence of the celehrated scholar f<»r the
cause of the CIospcl. As early as 1517, however,
he ex])resse<l to his friends distrust of the moral
sincerity of Erasmus, and he soon hecame con-
vinced that no active support was to he expected
from tlie sage of Kottenlam. In 1024, he ad-
dressed to him an exceedingly can<lid U'tter as a
last appeal, hegging him to confmc himself to
the sfilu re for wliicli his talents so j)eculiarly fitted
him, and not to yield his pen to the service of the
enenjy. Hut this plea came too late, if indeed
it< imperious tone did not, l.y wounding the pride
of Erasmus, give additional eni'rgy to the assault
which he was even then engaged in ])rej>aring.
He had heen urged hy many to avenge the in-
juH'd honor of Enghunl's king hy entering the
lists against Luther. This now appeared a per-
fectly safe and politic thing t«»do, as Erasnnis had

FAI.TEHINC, AM.IE.^. Ill

finally concliulod to rast in his lot with the j)a]ial
l>arty, ami fonld of connsc ]»roinott' his jicrsonal
interests hy aidinir thcin in tlu-ir cU'siuTati' conflict
with tlu' invinciitic monk.

TIm' point of attack was most skilfully clioscn.
Krasmiisdid not dare to ('X])ost' himself to ridicule
hy rushinj^ to the tlcfcnce of the papal ahsurdities
over which he had himself so often made merry,
lie must select st^me thenu^ which would call for
-cholarly treatment ami which had not heen
already discussed hy men less celehrati'd than
himself. Luther had very hroadly denied the
ahility of man hy his own strcnirth to choose or to
do that which is ri^ht. Erasmus, the self-reliant
r(>j>resentative and exponent of the culture which
man may attain hy a proper discii)line of his na-
tural powei^s, would take up the cause of human
ahility. In Septemher. ir)'24, a])peared his book
entitled: Of the Free Will. Luther at once re-
coLHiized that he had here an antaironist more
worthy of his steel than any who had yet assailed
liim. He declared openly that Erasmus was the
lirst of all his enemies to touch the real hcjirt of
the controversy. All others had disj»uted ahout
outward trilles, hut here the very citadel of his
teachinj:^ was assailed, and he rejoiced in the op-
portunity to write upon themes of real importance.
Nevertheless, the arguments of Erasmus, though
l)eautifully exi)ressed, appeared to him sur])ris-
ingly weak, and he did not lu^sitate to op])ose to
them a thorough statcmmt of his own vi(■^v< in
the treatise entitle.l: Of the Enslaved Will.
This document contains the most uncjualilied as-
sertions of man's utter heli)lessncss and of the ab-
solute sovereignty of (Jod. The most extreme
views of Augustine touching the eternal divine*
decrees are cordially endorsed, and tlu' autlun* is

IIJ LVTHKK, THE HEFOKMEK.

at no pains to reconcile tlie fretiiient tifclaration,
that "all things come to i)a.ss of necessity," with
that conviction of five aj^uncy upon which nsts
the universal sense of |u'rsonal responsihility.

In estiniatinj? the positions here assumed l»y
Luther, it is imj»ortant to remember that they are
not the (le<lucti(»ns «>f abstract reasoning', hut were
maintained so zealously as seemingly essential
to the integrity of the fundanu'iital doctrine (»f tht-
Gospel, 1. <•., salvation hy pure ^race, without any
admixture of human worthiness. This doctrine,
he felt, must he defendeil at all hazards, however
trying to the human reason may he the inferences
n'^juired. It is very noticeable that in the later
utterances (»f the Reformer the extreme statementi^
here defended in tin; heat of controversy d<t not
ri'<*ur, although they were never formally recalled.
Their assertion at this time, as in llie eiiually
strict statements found in the theological works of
Mclanchtlion, did much to eni]>hasize the line of
demarcati<»n between the shallow work-righteous-
ness of the Romish church, and the liumble yet
conlident dependence upon the free mercy of CJod
which distinguished the genuine Reformers, and
wliich has pervaded all Lutheran thciiloL'v. The
docunn-nt is not lacking in the personal invec-
tive which entei*s so largely into all the contro-
versial writings of the ju'iiod, and which Luther
felt to be the more needful the ujorc exalted the
reputation of those who dared to arisi' as the
champions of error. To have spoken lightly now
would have seemed to indicate fear of his illus-
trious antagonist or indiiTerence to the labored
attempt of the latter to lay a logical foundation
for the religion of human merit. From this time
onward, Krasnuis is to be numbere«l among the
open foen of th*' Ref<)rmation, though always

FALTKKI.V; A LI. IRS. 113

couiis« lini: iiKKU'ration in tlio oiitwanl measures
adopted for its suj»})r('ssi()n.

Lutlur was more di^jtly pained l»y tlio defec-
tion of Ids old friend, Staupitz, thron^di wliose
wise counsels lie had l>een so ^'really aided in the
days of his spiritual distress in tiie monastery.
Tlie latter, after following the f(trtunes of the Re-
former for some yeai*s, thoujrh with faltering ste]),
heeame alarmed by the increasing rancor of the
strife and longing to end his days amid the
l»eaeeful activities of an established ecclesiastical
order, had returned to tlie service of the })apal
church, beconnng al)bot of a cloister at Salzl»urg,
and vicar to the cardinal-archhishoj). Lutlu'r con-
tinued to maintain correspondence with this gen-
ial hut faint-hearted man until the latter, disap-
]iointed and self-rei>roachful, was released from
his trying jiosition by death in December, 1524.
Luther's sad comment was: "God has slain him,"
yet he always spoke of him with tenderest reganl.

Luther was well aware tliat Staupitz wjis the
representative of a large number of i)ersons who,
fully e(»nvinced of the righteousness of his cause
and kindly inclined toward himself, were yet
shrinking back into the camp of the enemy,
frightened by the extent of the general ui)heaval
of society and alienated, in i)art. by the seeming
arrogance of his own bearing and the rude vigor
of his speech. Yet he refused to moderate in the
least the bluntness of his language, convinced that
no smoother ]»hraseology would suHiee to arrest
the insolence of the unscru])ul«)Us defenders of the
apostate church nor to arouse timid believers to
open and uncomj»romising resistance. Others
might flinch before the foe; he must l)Ut stand the
morelirmly, and, though he stand alone, hurl de-
liance into the face of every champion of error.

fllAITKIt VI

RAGINC; PEASANTS.

Vigorous ns were the protests of Lutlicr a^raiiist
prcvailin«x errors, In' always consistently main-
tainc*! that no sword hut that of the Spirit n)ust
he used in difenee t)f thr truth. Ahuses and in-
juri«'s must hv endured in Christian meekness
until tliey can he nin<'<lit(l hy lawful means.
Obedience to the powers that be, he ur»red as
a primary duty of every Christian eitizen. When,
in his Aflilrejis to the XuhlUtj/^ he so fervently ajn
peals to his countrymen to throw of! the yoke of
foreiirn oppn^ssors, lie always has distinctly in
view an onlerly resistiince conducteil hy the law-
ful lea«lers of the nation. ]UU nut all the a«ritatnrs
of the day were thus conscientious, and the j)a-
tient peasantry of (lermany had already a hundred
years l)efore given evidence that their wrath, whm
fully aroused, could hrook no resistance. The
grievances were manifold, and mainly of a politi-
cal nature. The ancient feudal system, still in
part maintained, involved the ahject sul»je<'tion of
the common man to his lie<re-l(»rd and the su{»|»nrt
• tf a laru'e hody of prtly nohility. Thr imperial
taxes were unscrupulously levied. The Church
was never done with its exactions, an<l njain-
taincd its sway over the supei-stitious masses hy
••alhnp to its const^mt aid the shadowy forms of
departed saints, and painting in lurid colors the
pangs of purgatory and perdition.

When I.utlu'r now snatched the keys of heaven
un«l hell from the hands of sordid ecclesiastics and
(114)

KAGINC. rtJASANTS. 115

proclaiiiHMl tlint a Christian man is l>y viriiu' of
liis faith a fret' lord over all tliin;^'s, niultitinlcs
wlio IkkI no spiritual aspirations cauglit U]) the
cry of lilitrty, ami, ij^norini; tlio carrful t-ountcT-
-tatt'iucnt, that tlu' same Christian man isl)y virtue
nf his lovt' a ministering servant of all, demanded
in the name of the Reft)nner the demolition of
the whole social fahrie. Carlstadt, vanquished
at Wittenberg, found admittance t(> a ])ul])it in the
neijrhhoring town of Orlamund, and hepui anew
the i>roclamatit)n of his revolutionary i)rinciph's.
Kxjx'hed from Saxon territory, he traveled
throuixh Southern (i(Tmany, gaining followers
in many of the larger cities, lie assailed the
Church and her outward ordinances, holding that
true religion consists in a withdrawal of the soul
within itself, a losing of one's self in dreamy list-
lessness, thus appealing to the deep mystical ten-
dency which is so marked a trait of the German
national character. Yet with all this lauded and
unworldly (piietude he comhined a spirit of reck-
less violence, maintaining that the existing laws
must he ignored and the ancii iit M<'-;iic law he
rigidly enforced. Meanwhile Thomas Munzer,
having heen expelled from Zwickau early in 1521,
lia<l heen diligently spreading liis fanatical ideas
and gaining a large following. In lo'J.S, ho set-
tled at Alstedt in Thuringia and, still later, in
the imi)erial city of Miihlhausen. lie and his
.issociates claimed to be "overshadowed" by the
Holy Spirit, to receive frequent direct revelations
from (lod in dreams, and, in obedienc(» to these,
they procee<led to l)infl the "elect" everywhere
in solemn league, not only for tlu* overthrow of all
existing authority, but for the actual extermina-
tion of alhthe ungodly, /. r., all who should i^ot
swear allegiance to their new sjiiritual kingdom.

1 Iti UTIIER, THE KEFORMER.

riio oaFO with which such hlindly fanatical notions
were propagated is one of the nio^t impressive
evidences of tlie dense ignorance and superstition
of the masses. A faithless Church had lu'en for
centuries sowinf^ to tlie wind, and must now reap
tlie wliirlwind.

None so clearly saw tlie terril)le nature of the

;itherin<r storm as Luther, lioldly he traversed
the disaffected regions, urging; tlieiluty of suh-
iiiissinii tn lawliil authority. At Orlamund the

< xcited multitude greeted liim with jeers and

< urses. Carlstadt and Aliinzer, as chamj)ions of
the i>eople, assailed him in more hitter terms tlian
had ever ))een employed hy his j»apal antagonists,

ikI their malignant tracts were eagiTly read hy
tlie excited multitude. Luther met theui with all
his accustomed vigor in liis h-ngthy treatise:
' Against the Heavenly Prophets."

l^arly in l'>2.'), {]\r jMasants gatlierrd in aiiiiiy
mohs in Swahia and Franconia and oth«r regi«»ns
where Miinzer had i)repared the way. The hurgh-

is of the large cities, opj)ressed hy tlie grasping
merchants, and jealous of the ])Ower of the ])rinces,
made ccniimon cause with tliem. Their dcmantls
v. ere formulate<l in T^velve Articles, which he-

ime the standard around wliidi all the discon-
'••nted elements in the land were soon rallying.
These articles jiromincntly demanded unrestricte(l
lil>erty in the preacliing of tlie (Jospel, and the
right of every congregation to ele<-t its own pastor.
Only undercover of thi'se Christian j)ropopitions,
learned from Liithcr, aj)pear the sociahstic and
n-volutionary prin(ij>les which were the real mo-
tives of tlu! \iprising. Mingled with the fanatical
ideas were found, however, various suggestions of
economic ref(»rm which met the approval of Luther,
and which a later age Ikls ( inhodied in the statu-

KAdlNC. PEASANTS. 117

f(»rv lawp of (ItriiiMiiy. Luther at once jjrcparod
a response to tliis piil»lic (locuiiicnt, cxprcssinj^
liis jud^'iULnt wiilioiit fear or favor. lie pro-
nounees the disorderly asseinhhijres of the j)easants
Hi* acts of open and mifjodly insurrection, hut hiys
the chief hlanie U]»on the niercih'ss exactions of
tlie ruK'rs, whom lie faithfully warns aL'ainst con-
linuin;^ thus to invite the terrihlc visitations of
divine wrath. Then, turning to th(^ i)easants, he
plrads with tlK'Ui to pursue <»nly orderly methods
for the redress of their L^ievances.

Ikit all pleading was in vain. The multi-
tudes continued to flock together throughout
southern and central Germany, hurning and ])il-
laging on every hand. Miinzer's visions hecame
raj)turous. It was revealed to him that victory was
just at hand and that the whole order of the world
was to he changed. The j)rinces hesitated. Should
they venture to me«'t violence with force? Vs'vrc
they ahle to (juell this almost universal uprising?
Then was heard a commanding voice ahove the
din. Although the ])easants sang and prayed and
professed to he contending for the defence of the
Gospel, they had hecome rohhers and murderers,
and must he suhdued at all hazards. Luther
called ui)on the princes, regardless of their relig-
ious diiVerences, on the hasis of the secular calling
which had hcen hestowed upon them, to draw the
sword and smite the rehels to right and left with-
out mercy. To preserve the j)eace and quell dis-
order he pronounced the first duty of the civil
ruler.

At length the princes assumed the ofTensive.
Philip of Hesse, after <iuelling the outhreak in his
own domini«»ns, joined his forces with those of his
father-in-law, l)uk(; (Jeorgc; of Saxony, Duke
Henry of Brunswick and the Count of Mansfihl,

]\^ LUTHER, THE KEKOHMER.

ami tho iinitrd army was soon faco to face witli a
band of .S(KM) pt-asants intniuli»<l laliind a lino
of farm wagons at Frankenhausen. KlToits at
conciliation were maile with i)rosj)ects of succi'ss
by the njjn'scntiitivo of tlu' nuw ckctor, John of
Saxony, and by Luther's personal friind, tho
Count of Mansfold, when the arrival of Miinzor
from Miihlhausen awakened anew the frenzy of
the multitude. On May loth, the assault was
made; the insur^^nts met it only with the sinjrin^
of a hynni to the Holy (Ihost, then lied in ]»anie,
Miuizer himself heiii<i taken ea|»tive. The Kleetor
John, haviuL,' (|uiete«l the disorder in his own do-
main without bloodshed, now arrived from the
south. On May 2oth, Muhlhausen surren-
dered, an<l Miinzer, after abjeet confession of his
errors, was, with other rinirkaders, execute<l upon
the field. From cam]> to camp marcluHl tho vic-
torious tn»ops. Similar scenes were enacted in
other portions of the land, and in a few wi-eks the
insurrection was at an end. Fearfid was the ven-
j^eance of the princes, njultitu<les of helpless pris-
oners beinjr ruthlessly slain, apunst the earnest
protest of Luther. It was estimated that the
movement cost the lives of at least 1(K),000 of the
infatuat4'd peas:ints, while many of the fairest
portions of (lerniany had deen devastated.

Tlie results of the, insurrection were far-
rea<liin«r for the cause of the Kcformation and in
their inlluence upon the personal career (»f Luther.
The fear of an uprisin«rof the connnon peoi)le had
for years re.<train(Hl the Roman Catholic ]>relates
and ])rinces from violent measures; but now,
flushed with victory and charLMnir the disturb-
ance itself to the teaching (»f Luther, they were
eapT to crush out the last vesti^<' of the l*'van-
j:<'lical party. The I'ope sent his ctingratulations

RAC;iN(; PEASANTS. 119

to Philip of Ilesso uj^on tlic \w\)\o stand which he
had taken a^'ainst the 'Mni<;odly Lutherans."
On July WHh, LVio, a leaj^'ue was formed at
Dessau hetwcin thr j)rinces, Cieor<:e of Saxony.
Joaehini of lirainlenhurL'. Alhert of Mayrnce, and
the nukfs of Hrunswick for mutual dcfiiier and
for the extermination of the "accursed Lutlx ran
sect."

Meanwhile, the personal influence of Luther
had Imcu neutrali/A'd in many tjuartcrs. Not a
few of his warmest adherents were alienated hy
his advocacy of the use of the sword, failing; t(»
comprehend his doctrine of the divine riL'ht of
civil rulers. He was charjred with (lesertin«r tlu'
cause of the j)()or and the oj>])resscd in the hour
of tlieir sorest need in order to gain the favor of
the rulin<>: classes. Those who had heen won hy
his fearless denunciations of ojipression, hut who
did not sympathize with his religious views,
now lost all interest in the cause of the Kefor-
niation.

From t]ii< time onward, Luther ceased to be
the popular hero of the (Jerman nation. l'>ven
his life was fretpiently threatened hy those who
liad once itlolized his name. He had stirred up
in turn j)riests, princes and peasants to hitterest
enmity, and all the good that he had accom-
plished seemed to he forgotten. Doctrinal dis-
putes ha<l meanwhile hopelessly divided the
Kvangelical party, and the socialistic agitation
liad left W'ittenherg almost deserti'd. The l'>lector
Frederick, faithful friend and ])rotector, died on
^hly 5th, and was huried in the castle-church
amid the lamentations of the njultitude, the
funeral services being conducted l»y Luther and
Melanchthon.

Again the Uefoiiner seemed to .-tand alone.

120 Ll'TlIKH, THE REFOKMEK.

Ho had faced the fury of fanaticism as fearlessly
as he liad once br.ived the thmuiers i)f the iiapaev
— had smitten wroni: on every hand until tlie
wln)lr AVitrld scrnicd arrayed apiinst him. It
\va> the darkest hour in tl" lii-t..i\- ..f Luth«r.

CIIAITKR VTTT.

llnLV HONDS.

Nkveii was the dauntless spirit of the Re-
former more clftirly nKUiit\'stt»l than in these
days of univei*sal gloom. \\'ith (hinders tliicken-
ing on every side, he wrote to a friend on May
4th: "To spite the devil, I mean to take my
Katie to wife before I die. They sliall, at ail
events, not roh me of my courage and good
cheer." Kvtm this most ])t'rsonal step could not
In; taken without direct reference to the reforma-
tory work to whose advancement all else in
Luther's life was held sul)ordinate.

He had for several years distinctly maintained
liberty of marriage for the priesthood. lie ha»l
encouraged many of his friends to avail them-
selves of this lii)erty, hut at the same time
wondered at their temerity in assuming tlie re-
sponsibility of the married state in such troublous
times. Ills conception ot the cares and bur<lens
incident to wedd<'d lif(» was such as almost to
overshadow its advantages. When extremists at
Wittenberg pronounced marriage a duty, he ex-
claimed in indignation: " They shall never force
a woman upon me." To the kind incpiirv of a
friend in November, ]')24, he replied that, tiiough
he was neither wood nor stone, and his heart was
in the hand of the T.ord, yet he had no thought
of marrying and should not do so unless his feel-
ing in the matter should be entirely ihanged.

\U\t wlnii friend after friend assumed the sacred
bonds, anil he wa,s pernntted as a guest to share
(11>1)

122 LrTiiEii, tin: hkfohmer.

tin* warmth and l>rijrhtncss of tlioir hap]\v homos,
insiuh strikinjr contract \\\\h his own <:lcMnny (juar-
ters; wht'n ciuinij's tauntL'<l him ]>uhH(ly with
cowardice in shrinking' from a course to which he
hail ur^'cd so many others; and when he learned
throuj^di the medium of trusted^riends that Cath-
arine von Bora, one of the escaped nuns of the
Nimj»tzseh convent, for whom lie had made fruit-
less etT«»rts to seeuri^ a hushand, would ]»n)l)altly
he wiihn.i: to share the trials of his own l»>nrly lot
— his resolution wavered. Mysterious hints
and ])layful l)anter !•< ;^an to eriej* into his j>rivate
correspondence, and, with characteristic hardi-
hot)d, just when his ifrieiuls were all tremhlin*: in
terror and his foes most juhilant, he startled the
world with the sudden news: "The monk of
W'ittenherf]^ has married a nun!"

The simple marriage rites were ]Mrf<>rm<'d in
the monastery in tlic ]»r(sence of lUi.^enha«:en,
the pastor of the parish church, Justus Jonas, the
provost of the Inivcrsity, a lawyer named Ape),
and the painter, Lucas Cranaeh, with his wife, on
th<' eveiiinj,' of June VM\\. The marriage fes-
tivities to which a lar<rer nund)er of frien<ls. in-
chnhn*: the parents of Luther, were invited, w«re
held two weeks later. Venison for this occasion
was furnished hy tlie Elector; the town council
sent a keir of ICimiuck hcer and twenty gukli'iis;
the Lniversity ]»resented a silver cup plated with
gold, ami the LHiots liroUL'ht apprnpriati' wcdilin^i-
gifts.

Tlic public announcement of the event f«.r
the time heing overshadowed all other topics of
conversati(»n. Knemies, including Krasmus, at-
trihuted Luther's whole course of opi>osition to
the Romish church to his passionate frettin:'
under the restraints of celihacy and his admim-

ifoI.Y I'.oNDS. l2'->

lion for tlic "licaiitiful nun" (a dcsij^nation
wliirli her l)L'st friiiuls i-ould scarcely have claimed
for Catharine), while his Iririids almost without
exception lamented the step as lowerinj^ the di^^-
nity of the j^reat leader. Those least disj)osed to
criticize were heard to say: "If it oidy had not
lia])pened just now, or if he had chosen some
other than a nun!" Melanchthon thou«iht liis
friend heartless to indulge in we(Min«i: festivities
when the whole land was in m()urnin_L^ V>ui
Luther was undisturhed. He had the a])proval
of his conseienee, his father and his (iod, and had
been enabhil to strike another sturdy hlow at the
foundations of the perverted system of the paj)acy.
Th«' married life of Luther i>roved a hap]»y
one. lie entertained a cordial resj)ect for his self-
reliant and capable com])anion, whom he play-
fully called his "Lord Katie," and to whom he
committed the unreserved charge of the domestic
economy. Nor was it a slijrht undertaking for
this maiden of six and twenty years to enter into
life-])artnership with so famous a man, her senior
by sixteen years, accustomed from early youth to
masculine society alone, and confirmed in his
liabits of life by the loufi: discipline of a monas-
tery. But Catharine possessed a dauntless spirit.
Her capacity for the discharjie of household
duties had )»een displayed in the home of the city
ejerk, Keiehenbach. Her attractive ])ersonality
had secured her marked favors at the hand of
Christian, the exiled kintj of Denmark, and she
had always been perfectly at ease in the ])resence
"f the leanK'd men who ^^athered at Wittenberjr.
She had discovered, too, what a warm heart beat
beneath the stern exterior of the Reformer, and
^he had never, like lier associates, felt overawed
in his presence. He, upon his part, rei)elled at

IJI IIIIIKK, TIIK HKKOUMEH.

first hy her dignity, wliidi ho attrihultMl to prido,
seems to have Ikvii won at lenjrtli by her (hnision
and eandor. If slie (Hd not enter very heartily
into the tlieoloj^ical disenssions of the (hiy, she
yet knew tliat Luther was always right, and slie
entertaine<l a hearty aversion to the tyranny of
that ehureh whieh had imprisoned her for ten
years within the dingy walls of a eonvent. Her
liighest amhition now w:i.s to ]>r(>ve hcrsilf a nal
helpmeet to her overhunh'ned husband.

It was no luxuriously-furnished home to
which the bride w:is h-d. F<>r snim- months
Lnth(M-\s only assoeiat<'S had been his eloister-
brother, Jacob Praepositus, and a little dog. For
more than a year no one had made the Reformers
l)ed. There were still dust-covered dishes in the
closet^!, and Iumv and there some pieces of modest
furniture which the departing monks had hem
unable to carry with them. Onler and comfort
now (piickly si)rung into being at the magic touch
of a woman's hand, and a tone of rencwc«l hope-
fulness soon l)ccame noticeable in the Reformer's
bearing, alternating, however, with j)eriods of de-
pression and anticipations of approaching death,
lie himself found it dillicult to realize that he was
actually a married man, a fact of which Katie was
not slow to remind him from time to time, lli^
work went on without interruption.

CIIAPTKrv IX

KE-OROANIZATION OF TIIK rinUCIL

LrTllEu's j»lan of iciticnt tolcratiun in iii;itt<'rs
of extornal form luul now Ix'cn pursiud for sev-
eral years. I'lulcr the faithful i)r('ac-lunjT of the
(lospel and the l)ol<l denuiieiation of ]>apal ahiises,
the great hotly of the j^eople at \\'itten)>er«,^ ami in
many other centres of inlluenee had gradually
lost interest in the old forms and learned to tlnnk
of the Church as independent of the Roman hier-
arehy. Released from their ancient hondage, they
were scattered as sheep without a shepherd.

It was evident that the time had come lor a
re-organization upon the hasis of evangelieal
piineiples. Arrangement must he made for the
supply of capahle ministers and for their ade-
(|Uate support. There must also he some hond of
union hetween the scattered congregations, and
some means of awakening renewed interest in
localities where the poj>ulac(» had long heen in-
(hlTerent to all religious life.

Tlie task was a stupendous one. Lutlier
shruid< from it, not only hccause he himself had
little talent for organization, hut heea use he feared
that the new life of the Church might he again
stitle*! under a system of outward laws and regu-
lations. He dei^ired to allow in external things
the largest liherty consistent with order and
(Hicient oversight. In his own home, Saxony,
any movement in this direction was hindered hy
the extremely conservative spirit of the aged
iHeetor, who pleaded that no unnecessary imio-
(125)

126 LrTIIEK, TIIK KEFOUMElt.

vations sIkhiUI l)c iiiade in worsliij) or the govern-
ment of llic conprejrationF until the voiee of the
Chureli at large eould he heard through a peneral
couneil. While in the parish chureh at Witten-
})erg. under the ininicdiatf dinetinn of Luther,
the services were gradually divested of nil oh-
jeetionahle features, the castle chureh continued
to ohserve all the ancient cireinonies. Nearly a
thousand masses for souls were annually cele-
hrated, and o'>,(KX) pounds of wax were hurned
each year in honor of departed saints. Luther
could, at length, no longer endure this inconsist-
ency, and, regardless of the displeasure of the
Klcx*tor, he denounced from the ])ulpit the idolatry
thus enci»uraged in his prince's church. After
an entire year of ceaseless and determined agita-
tion, the authorities of the church yielded t<» the
force of jtuldic ojtinion, and at Christmas, 1024,
the masses were abandoned. With this con-
cession Luther was satisfied for the time being,
although in all other j)oints the ancient Romish
customs were continued.

Upon the death of the heloved Elector, Fred-
erick the Wise, the accession of his more ])osi-
tive and aggressive I'rotlnr. John the Sttndfast,
opened the way for more efficient measures of
nform, and, despite the t<rrors of the Peasant
War, then just inaugurated, and the important
changes in Luther's ]»rivate life, the latter was
not slow to improve the j)r()vidential oj)jK)rtunitv.
Already on the 2(nh of May he s^nt to the
camp of the new Elector hifore Miihlhausen, a
jilan for the re-organization of the I'niversity,
which at once received cordial cndoi-senicnt. The
popish ceremonies at the castle church were now
at once ahandon<'d, and spe<ial instructions issued
to pastor- tlir..n"lM.nt S;iv..nv t.. i.i. i.-l. ..nU" the

KE-OKtJAMZATloN (»F TIIK ClirUClI. \ 2~

)>uiv (l«>sj)(l aiul to ;i(liniiiistt'r tlic siUTainciits in
tlu' fnrni in wliii-h Chrisl hud institutfcl tluni.

On October 'JOth, :i new order of worship,
prepaivil hy Luther an<l approved hy the l-'lector,
was introdueed into the })arish ehureli at W'itten-
l)eri;. It was adaj)ted particularly to the exislin«^
cir«-uinstanct»S()f the eon^n-e^Mtion, and I^uther did
not re;<ard it as a final, tixed form, nor did he de-
sire that "any i)etter orders" in use elsewln're
sln>uld 1)0 disjilaced by it. The use of vestments,
candles, etc., was to be continued " as long as they
last, or until we choose to alter them." He re-
connnended that, for the sake of j^ood order, only
• •neformof servict^ should be em]>loyed in each
t ity or |)rineii)ality. His own formula was widely
distrii)Uted and adopted, with «;reator or less vari-
ation, in many other ])laces. It was, however, in
direct contravention of his own desire, when, in
the Lenten season of 1520, an electoral mandate
required the introduction of the latter throughout
tlie realm. In Southern (lermany, the necessities
<»f the case had already led to tlie adoption of var-
ious forms of worship, which were commonly
simpler an<l prepared with less regard to tradi-
tional customs. However diversified these new
orders, tboy were all distinctly evangelical in char-
aett r, and tlieir employment in<licated a final sep-
aration from the Komish church.

P>ut Luther felt that far more essential mat-
ters than these demandetl attention. Most im-
portant of all was the proper instruction of the
jK'ople, and especially th(i training of the young.
To this end, he had already furnished valuable
<-ontributions in various publications which after-
wards formed tlie l)asis of his catechisms. It was
now felt tliat there should be some system ot reg-
ular i)v<r<ldit, Tin- bi-li(.i.^ bad lull" iH-Lrlectod

128 UTiiKH, TiiK i{KF(H{Mi:n.

tlioir dutio?, and tlic masses of tin* jxojilo wvra
sunken in almost incndil*!^ ignorance. LutliiT
]\in\ liimsi'lf, in 1524, visitoil a ninnlxT of commu-
nitit's and learned from his own o!)8ervation how
8ore was the need of spiritual traininjr. He now
enlled upon the Elector and )»rinees of the realm to
act as " emerjxeney hishops" in estahlishinj? j)as-
toral districts, ap])ointini: ministers, and or^^aniz-
\n*l schools, basin«r their ri^rht to act in such mat-
tirs. not upon their secular ollices. hut uj)on their
posititui as the most iiillucntial nmonir the p'Ueral
congrej^ation of helievers. When the jjrinces re-
fused to undertake such work, he urged congropja-
tions to pclect from their own numher competent
men and solenmlv set these a|»art as pastoi*s to
administer the Word and sacraments. In some
cases, the councils of cities in which evangelical
views were in the ascendancy assumed the author-
ity of calling ministers. Luther ajjproved of all
these methods, well content when in any onlerly
way the (Jospel was permitted to have free course
among the people. He as little thought of de-
nian<ling uniformity in church organization as in
liturgical formulas.

In Saxony, tlu' cordial sympathy of the court
opened to the Reformers a witlc Held of usefulness.
Committees of visitation were a|)point»'d, tinhrae-
ing theologians and laymen, Luther and .Mclanch-
thon themselves accepting tin ir share nf tlu' active
w<»rk. The formal visitation, hegiiming in
1527, revealed a state of spiritual destitution far
heyond all anticipations. Ignorant tradesmen
who had for years hei'U acting as ivomish priests,
falling in with tin- popular current, had ])rof«'ss«'*l
adherence to the ( lospel, hut were imahle to preach
— in some eases, couhl not even read. The rude
peasantw had in n)any places lost all regard for re-

RE-UKCAMZATIUN OV TlIK ('HrK( II. 1 'JD

lij^on, :in<l were so utterly altaiulonc*! t«» vice that
tlio visitors drspaired of c'lTirtinf]^ their reformation
and directed tlieir own etTorts almost entirely to
the reselling: of the ehildnii.

Many practical difficulties were oncounterod.
The peasants, freed from the exactions of the
hishops, were unwilling to make any free-will of-
ferings for the support of an evangelical ministry,
an<l the ])ro])erty of the monasteries had been
already in great part apj^ropriated hy the secular
]>rinces. The local noliility, many of whom still
held allegiance to the liomish church, eiaime<l the
right of appointing the ])arish ])riests, or j)astoi*s.
Melanchthon, almost in desi>air at the })revail-
ing disorder, wius at times ready to compromise
with the hishoj»s, allowing the re-instatement
of the ancient ceremonies and of the episco-
j>al authority, if but the free preacliing of the
(lospel shcuild be conceded. The Instructions
for Church Visitors, prejtared by him, was made
the basis of a moic general and tliorough prosecu-
tion of the Work in the following year. The organ-
izing talent of Bugenhagen, the ])astor at Witten-
berg, rendered invaluable service, as also the
coun.sels of the practical Hausman, under whose
alile ministry almost the entin; ])opulation of
Zwickau had been won to the side of the Reforma-
tion. Similar efforts in other portions of (Jermany
were influenced more or less directly by the j)rin-
eiijhs amiounced in Saxony, and thus the evangel-
ical movement LMadually as-uiiicd something like
a definite and permanent form, by its inherent
power superseding tlu- everywhere discredited
jurisdiction of the Homish bisho|>s. When, in
1521), the catechisms of Luther appeared, they
found a cordial rweption and formed an in-
di4>solul)le bond oi spiritual unity between the
9

l.'^O H'TIIKR, TIIK HKFORMER.

8oatt('ro<l congrej?atinnH throughout (irrni.iny. In
our own day, the rhunh \'isitalinns (tf Sax«»ny
from l.'>24 to 152*), witli all thcaiixiity ami uncon-
jrcnial toil which tliey inv<»lv(.Hl u|M»n the i»art of
many noble men, are remembered ehielly as liaving
given occasion for tlie j>rei)aration of this little vol-
ume, whieli has done more than all other writinjrs
of the Reformer to j;ive unity of faith to the pri'at
and frrowinj: connnunion which yet hears his
name. The fact is a most impressive illustration
of the j>rinci|ile, that not or^^anization, hut char
statement of the truth, is the surest basis uf abid-
ing power.

CHAi'Ti:i: \.

•oi.rriCAL EVENTS.

Tlow was it jtossible for those bold measures of
rcfoiiii to ln' prostvuted in a land povcmcd by
a lionian C'atliolic Knipcror and the l^)pe? The
<lii('stion rcijuircs us to glance at the course of
political events.

Upon the death of Leo X., in December, 1521,
the papal dignity was conferred uj)on Adrian,
who, having been the religious instructor of the
Knjpcror, might be expected to find in the latter
a willing tool in the enforcctncnt of extreme
measures against the new heresy. The legate of
the new Poi)c, a])pearing at tlic Diet of Nurem-
berg in 1522. denianded tlie strict enforcement of
the K<lict of \\'orms, denouncing Luther as worse
than Mohammed. He urged tlie immediate
arrc»st of the beloved pastor, Osiandcr, and the
other evangelical jireachers of Nuremberg. The
lK)ld denunciation of tliis ])roposition by the en-
raged citizens antl their (hterminati(»n to i)rotect
tlu'ir ]>astors at all hazards revealed to the
assembled ])rinc<'s the temper of the ])eople at
large, and the afTrighted legate, laying asi(h' his
haughty air, began to pose as a "martyr" in the
midst of a j)erseeuting rabble. Although the
majority of the Diet were zealous adherents of th(^
estal)hshed order, they "feared the people" and
had, moreover, various grievances of tlicir own
which they were anxious to have j)ublicly dis-.
cussed. They therefore finally agreed that the
Lutheran errors couM be exterminated oniv by a

Ci;u;

132 M'TIIKl:, THK ItFFOHMEFl.

general council held on German soil, in which
eviTV one jjIiouM he enjoined to speak out what
he helieved to he ''divine and (Jos[)el truth."
This ollieial deelaration, made within eigliteen
months after the eondenmation at Worms, was a
n(»tal)le testimony to the progress of Luther's
cause.

When tlie Diet re-assembled at Nurem-
berg, in 1521, llic evan<^elieal preachers j»f the
eity had hecoine ]K)lder, and adininistere<l the
conmiunion in l)oth elements U) tliousands of per-
sons, conspicuous anionic the throni^ l)ein«x the
Queen of Denmark, a sister of the Km|)eror and
Ferdinand. The Pope, throui^li his ie<:ate, a«rain
dcmandeil the execution of the KtUct of Worms,
l»ut was ohliired to he content with the assuram-e
that it should he exei'uted "as far as po.<sil>le. "
Arran<:ein«>nts were tlien holdly made for a "<^en-
eral a.^soml>ly of tlie (ierman nation," to he held
at Spires in the autumn of the s;ime year. Thi.s
compromise satisfied no one. Luther at onee
pul)lishe(l the e<Iict with annotations, denouncing
in sc^ithini,' terms thi' inconsistency of first sanc-
tioning Ills ccmdemnation and then arranging for
an examination of his teachings. The Pope hit-
t<'rly complained of the pn'sum|»tion of theder-
mans in c:illing a council without his advice,
while the Emperor declared the edict void and
prohihit<^<l th(^ proposi-d gathering. Thus per-
isiiecl the last hope of the peaceful organiz:ition of
Germany jus a political power.

In July, LVil, under the leadership of the
[)apal legate, Cainpeggio, a partisan league of
Catholic princes was f«»rmetl at Ratisbon, in
^vhich the <'onfederates resolved that n«»t the
slightest deviation from the prescrihed order of
Worship should he t4)lerated in their domains, and

POLITKAL KVKNTS. 133

l»le<l<;e(l tlirir unitt'd clYorts for the utter extinction
of tlie Lutheran heresy. IJoth Pope and Emperor
eiinhally approved this action, wliich must of
course compel the ori^anization of the evangrUcal
prin<-es in self-defence.

Philip, the energetic youn«^ Mari^ravi* of Ile.'^so,
havim,' l)een won for the cause of the Ueformation
lari^ely throu^^h a conversation with Melanchthon
it an accidental mcetinj< upon a journey, formed
an alliance with the Elector of Saxony at Gotha
in Fehruary, lo2o, which was joined hy other
princes at Mag:<lel)urg in the following; Juno, and
l»eeame the l)asis of a formal league of all the
Evangelical Estates, including the laruje cities,
conrlu'l""! at Torgau in Feljruary, 1520.

Thus, by the action of the papal party, the
nation had l)een divided into two distinctly
liostile camps when the Diet lussemhled at Spires
in June, 1526. It was now no longer Luther
who was t(3 be subdue<l, hut a valiant hand of
princes, supported by the foremoHt cities of the
realm, and resolved under no circumstances to
surrender their (Jospt'l liberty and how their
necks again beneath the yoke of papal bondage.
The church (pU'Sti<»n took precedence of all others.
It appeared, for a time, as though an undi-rstan*!-
ing might l)e reached by which both parties slutuld
l>e tolerated until the sunnnoning of the general
< ouncil whieh the Pope and Enii)cror had so often
agreed to call. Just upon tin? eve of the adoption
'•f such an agreement, the presiding oflicer, Ferd-
inand, produce*! an imperial httrrof instructions,
iM'.iiinLT ,l:itc (.f .March 27th, whieh strictly forbade
any action in regard to the I'Mict of W'ornjs or
any decision of pending church «piestions. This
was rightly interpret«'d :is indi<'ating the purpose
'<t" the ICmpeior to enforce the lou-j-'le-piscd edict

134 LUTIIEU, TlIK RKFOKMER.

without fiirtlnT parley; Imt the princes sliriwdly
suspected that the eoiirse (►[ mure recent events
mi^dit have already weakened the imperial ri'so-
lution. The letter was written, they ohservetl,
under the stimulus of the Peace of Madrid, when
the Kin«r of France was a prisoner in the hands
of the Kmperor, and the latter was upon cordial
terms with the Pojm'. Since then, the wheel of
politieal fortune had reversed the situation. The
released Kin«^ of France and the I'ope were now
in leai^ue ai^'ainst the Empi'ror, who mi<;ht
urj^ently need the «;ood-will of all his (ierman
suhjects. It was therefore formally decreed that,
until the calling' of the council, every one should
'• so act in matters relating; to the Edict of Worms
as to he able to render an account to (Jod and
the Km})en>r." As anticipated, the I'jnperor was
too larj^ely occupied witli his wider political com-
plications to assert his jxjwer in Clermany, and
for the next three years the work of instruction
and organization })roeeeded unhinderi <1 under the
protection of the hr(»ad Edict of Toleration.
Meanwhile, the drift of j)uhlic st ntiment was
steadily in the (lirection of evan^relical liherty, and
the hearts of the Tn fnrniers Wt-re eheere«l hy many
notahle advances. Albert of Brandenburg, the
(Irand Master of the famous ( Ierman Order, under
the a<lvice of Luther, transformed his domini()ns
into a stvular duchy, severed all relati(»ns with the
]»apaey, and made provisi»»n for the rej^ular
preaching of the pure (iospel, tlius laying: tlw
foundation of the powerful I'rotrstant state of
Prussia. One hy one, the cities of Lower Ger-
many fell into line, and their church life was
or;,'ani/,ed in many cases hy personal friends of
liUthtr, while the hynms of the latter on the lips
of th(* people hnre down hrfore them all oppo,^iti(»n.

niAPTKK XI

PERSONAL AFKLKTIONS.

TiiK yoars lo'iO mid 1 ')i^7 cover a pi'ri(»(l of ])e-
culiar trial fertile Krfnniicr. lie sullVrcfl from
a nuinl)er of physical ailments, some of wliirli
were accompanied with excruciating pain, others
with fulness and rin<;ing sounds in the head,
tightness ui)on the chest and fainting. These at-
tacks now hecame more frecjuent and serious,
Iteing usually })reeeded hy seasons of great sjtir-
itual (le])ressi()n, which he himself regarded as
direct assaults of the devil, and in which he de-
( lare<l that lie ex])erienced the very tortures of
hell. At such times, he would sunmion his
friends to comfort him, and receive ahsolution at
the hands of liis ])astor. With the actual out-
hreak of the physical symptoms, his inward agony
gave j)lace to calm and triumphant faith.

In July, lo'JT, after a severe attack of his mal-
ady, he felt convinced that his end was at hand.
To his friends he then expressed himself as ready
to obey the Master's summons, although he
would gladly remain to help ihem light the Lord's
hattles against the Fanatics. He acknowledged
that lie had often written harshly, hut insisted
that he had done so only to terrify the hlas-
ijlK'mei-s. "(iod knows," he declared, *'that T
have wished harm to no one." More trying still
to his earnest spirit was the weakness which en-
sue<l, incapacitating him for rea<ling or writing,
and compelling him to lose many ])recions hours.

At just ahout this time, also, the pestilence
(i:5o)

13G LITIIKH, TIIK RKFOinrER.

l>roki'()ut at Witt('nlMr<;. The University was ro-
iiiovtH.1 to Jena, and Luther was iir<:('il to accom-
pany his associat«'S. As pastor of the parish
chureli, however, ho felt ImuukI to remain, and,
despite his own weakness, he was, with Hui^rn-
haj^'en, the associate pastor of tlie vilhip\ unre-
mitting in Ids attentions to the sick. The wife
' 'f the hur;j:omaster died ahuost in his arms. Two
women in Ins own h(>me fell sick with the disease.
His wife w;ls helpless, and the care <»f their infant
sun, Hans, occasioned the greatest anxiety. The
hirth of a dauirhter (Klizaheth), while welcomed
with dclii^dit as a ray of sunshine amid th" dark-
ness, did not lij^liten the hurden of r«'Sponsil>ility
resting upon the isolated household. ''Conllict
without and terrors at home, thus tloes Christ try
us," he exclaimed, *'hut one comfort remains,
with which we can o]>posc the nging Satan — we
have the Word for tlie salvation of the souls of
tliem that helieve, even though he devours their
hodies." Under these circumstances, he rejoiced
greatly when Hugenhagen, whose house had be-
come infected, moved with his family into the
monast<ry. Several children, also, whose parents
had fallen victims to the scourge, here found a
refuge.

It appears to have heen amid these trying
-eenes that the indt)mital>le faith of Luther in-
-i»ind tlie nohlest of his poetic productions, the

I. at Battle-hymn of the Reformation: "A
Mighty Fortress is our (lod." Although ha.seti
upon I*salm xlvi, it is hy no means a mere re|)n)-
luetion of the inspire(l original, hut rather a

pontaneoUH outl»urst of the ileeixst feelings of
LutluT himself, like him in its rugged simplicity
of diction — like him in its lM»ld defiance of all the
|M)wers of evil and in its joyous confidence in the
final victory of the ** Lon! (lod of H..st**."

(■iiAP'n:K XII.

Tl I K SACRA M KNT AL CONTUOVEUSY.

ScAKiKLY liad the Rcformatinn l)(';^'\in to assert
its power as a ^reat ])0})iilar movement, wlicii
there arose a controversy in the ranks of its ad-
herents wliich diverted the attention of many
from the ^m-at fundamental (juestions at issue and
wrouLdit untold injury to the cause. Strangely
enougli, the Holy Supper, instituted by our
Lord as a bond (»f union anionu' l)elievers, became
the occasion of dissensions uhieli alienated the
h'aders of the evangi'lical movement in that day
and have ever since divided the great Protestant
hnst. This sad fact can be understood only in
the light of j)receding history.

The Koman Catholic Church had taught tlie
doctrine of transubstantiation, that is, that in
the act of consecration by the priest the bread
used in the Lord's Sup]>er is transformed into the
verita}>le ihsh of the Saviour's body, and the
wine into His blood. The sacred wafer, or
"host," was then "elevated" for adoration and
oiTered to (Jod anew in sacritice by the ])ricst.
This 'sacrifice of the mass" was supposed to
lie especially acceptable to (lod, securing from
Him remission of sins for those in whose b(>half
the sacrilice was made. The celebration of the
Lord's Supper thus l)ecamo a "good work," or
means of gaining the divine favor. It did not
rrijuin^ the ]»articipation, nor ev<n the presence,
of tlie ])ersons to be benelited. The agency of the
])rie.-«t alone was n( cessarv. and this eould be se-
(137)

138 U'TIIER, ThK IlKFORMER.

ciin'<l — for tlic liviiiir <»r for the «l(':i<l, f«»r a term
t>f ycai-s or "in j>crp('tii<) " — by the donation of
money to the cofTers of the Church. In connec-
tion with every cathedral or monastery there
were shrines at wliicli private masses were said,
and the endowment of these was a fruitful source
of the Church's revenu<'.

In this "idolatry of the mass" was concen-
tratt'd the whoK' perverted development of the
pai»al church. Here was the citadel of the
enemy — the stron^diold of the system (tf Siilva-
tion hy works. If salvation hy faith was to l»e
maintained, the Reformers must i)rescnt some
radically difTerent view of tlie Lord's 8uj>]ier.
They are not responsihle, therefore, for makinjr
the saere<l ordinance a suhjeet of strife. It had
hcMii ))ound in a worse than '' Hahylonian ca])tiv-
ity," and they were com|>elled to address tlu^m-
selves to the task of freeing' it from its fetters of
human tradition.

lk'ne:ith the Ihiirrant error and ahuse lay, how-
ever, a great truth, i. e., the presence of the
lyord Ilimsi'lf in the H()ly Su]»]>er. II<>w was
this presen<'e to he conceived?

Luther at first accepted without «piestionin<r the
traditional theory of transuhstantiation. He very
~ooi], however, foUowin^^' a hint received from the
uritinjfs of D'Ailly, ri'alized that there is no ne-
cessity for ima^inin*; a miraculous transformation
of the elements, nor for discre<litinj^ the testimony
<»f our own sen.scs, which so clearly attest that the
l>read and wine remain unchanu'cd. The I/onl's
ImmIv is a sj)iritual l>o«ly, and could he present
just as well unseen with the earthly elements
f He can he present ( veryulic re wlim and as He
\Nill. This conception seeme«l to Luther to meet
ill the re(|uireiin nts of the scriptural laiiL'Uat'e

THE SACKAMKNTAL CONTROVERSY. 139

concerning' the ordinance, iind, at tlu' same time,
to explain tlie importance attached to it hy tlie
Saviour and its acknowledged ])()wer to comfort
and .strengthen the liumlde communicant. From
this simple conception he never afterwards wav-
ered. To maintain it intact was his sole ohject in
the wearisome controversies which ensued.

But this exj)lanation of tlie sacred ordinance, so
satisfying to the child-like faith and deej) mysti-
cal nature of Luther, was not to stand unchal-
lenged. Already in the summer of 1522, a letter
was addressed to Luther by a theologian of Hol-
land, named Honius, arguing tliat the words used
hy Christ in instituting the Sup])er arc to he in-
tr'ri)reted tiguratively and do not at all imply His
iH.dily ]»resence. The views of the Bohemian
Brethren were also calli'd to his attention us lack-
ing in clearness and strongly inclining to a rejec-
tion of imj)ortant aspects of this doctrine. Carl-
stadt and his fanatical associates went much
farther. When not des])ising the sacrament alto-
gether, they regarded it as simply a memorial
meal, whose chief advantage lay in the rapt con-
templation of Christ upon the jmrt of the recip-
ient. To some, it was merely an o]>portunity for
a renewal of their ])rofession of faith, or a badge
of loyalty. To the most radical, it was a mere
ceremony, utterly needless in the case r)f those
who had attained to real s]>iritual life, and who
could commune with (Jod directly without (he in-
tervention of any outward means.

Against these views, Luther maintained that
God deals with us only through special ext<'rnal
means of His own apjiointment; tliat the Lord's
Supper is a transaction in whicli (lod hestows a
gift and man is merely the reci|)ient; that the gift
l)«*stowed is the foTL'iveness of sins and a share in

1 }0 I.rTHKH, TIIK KKroKMKH.

the fc'llDWsliip of C'lirist an<l His saints; that the
IhkIv of Christ is truly jjiven as a seal and j)h'(Ijr(»
of the iniparte<l spiritual hlessin*:. He would
have men "direetly and ini]>licitly helieve that in
the sacrament of the altar the hody an<l l)lood of
Christ arc truly present, and that we shouhl not
in<iuire further how or in what form they are i)res-
ent, since Christ has not told us esjx'eially any-
thinji ahout that." Had this counsel heen ^^mut-
ally heeded, what interminable controversies
would have been avoided, and how diiTerent would
liave been the history of the Protestant church!

But when Carlstadt began to publish flippant
misinterpretations of the words of institution, to
ridicule the eonseeration of the elemi-nts. and deny
that the eeU-bration of the Sup])er had any rela-
tion to the f(trgiveness of sins, the indignation of
Luther was stirred, and he denounced in vigorous
terms the ignorant luu'dc who, in tlu-ir blind zeal,
sought to exclude the Lord from His own ordi-
nance.

In the year \i)24, word was brought to Luther
that Zwingli, the Swiss Reformer, had adopted
Carlstadt's view. About the same time, GEco-
lampadius. a former jtujiil and warm friend of
Luther, now j)rea«hing in Strassl>urg, and Martin
Bucer, also a firm friend of the l\ef<»rmation, an-
nounced that they no longer believid in the bodily
presenile of tlie I^)rd in the Holy Supper. They
cjuoted against it irrelevant passages, such a.s "the
llesh proliteth nothing," and argued that the body
of Christ could not be in so many places at one
time, nor could it be anywlure (»n earth, since it
)iaH ascended visibly to Heaven.

These scholarly assaidts conipelle<l Luther to
imdertake an exhaustive study of the subject.

W'itli k. . n. >i In-i. li.' ^..i;/]m t.. Iiiret eViTV erill-

TIIK SACKA.MKNTAL CoNTKOVKUSY. Ml

cisin aiul carefully (U'voloped his own view. ir<!
endeavored to show how Christ's hody eould, hy
pharinj; in the attrihiites of the divine nature, l>e
j)resent in lu-aven and also, at the same time, at
many ]»laces upon earth, and stoutly maintained
that, wliether his particular theory ))e acce})ted or
not, all Christians are hy the sim])le langua«re of
Christ hound to reeo<j:nize that, in some way, 1 1 is
hody is present and distrihuted wherever the sac-
rament is properly administered. His interest
deepened as the strife })roceeded, and he became
thorou.irhly convinced that the views of his op-
jM)nents spranj^ from an exaltation of reason above
the sim])le divine Word, and that they were in
conflict with the fundamental doctrine of the in-
s<*]»aral)le union of the human and divine natures
in the person of Christ.

He was the more ready to condemn the views
of his distinguished antagonists since he had |»re-
viously met them, supj)orted largely by the very
same arguments, in connection with the fanatical
vagaries of Carlstadt and Miinzcr. lie regarded
the (;ntire movement as essentially one — a fresh
outl)rcak of the very tendencies which he had so
earnestly combated in the Pioman Catholic
church, transforming an ordinance of God's free
grace into a work of human merit: The sacra-
ment of the Ix)rd*8 Supper seemed to him, as be-
fore, the point upon which all the new forms of
error converged, and lie boldly met the issue by
planting himiself firmly here, and treating all
wlio varied essentially from what he conceived to
])e the scriptural basis of this doctrine as alike the
enemies of Christ and of His church.

CHAPTKn xiir.

LUTIIEU AM) ZWIN<'.L

Side by side with the advance of evan.Lnlical
j)rinciples in Germany was progressinj^ during
tliese years a great reformatory movement in
Switzerland, under the leadership of Ulrich
Zwingli. The latter was a man in temperament
and training the very opposite of Luther. His
parents were in comfortahle eironmstances, and
lie enjoyed the hcnefits of a thorough classical
training at Ikisel, Heme and \'ieima. Having
< omplcted his theological course, he at the age of
iwenty-two became pastor at Glarus, in Switzer-
land, where he diligently prosecuted his studies
in the Scriptures. He took an active part in pub-
lic alTairs and twice accompanied the men of his
village upon military campaigns. The experience
thus gained le(l him to protest with jKitriotic
ardor against the mercenary employment of his
countrymen in the service of foreign princes, a

ustom which, mainly through his influence, was
.il)olished in the canton of Zurich. In lolfi, he
removed to Einsiedlein, a famous centre of Rom-
ish ])il;iri manes, where he attracted much Jitten-
tion by boMly assailing the superstitious worship
"f the \'irgin Mary. AN'hen, in lolS, the venders

f indulgences appcaretl in Ins neighborhood, he
cxpose<l their iniijuitics with e<|ual zeal. Trans-
ferred in loll) to Zurich, he continued to j)reach
witlj em-rgy against tlje al)Uses in the Church,
i'asting, enforced celibacy, and the withholding
• •f the cup from the laitv, beciunc in turn the ob-
(142)

M TIIKK AM> ZWINca.I. 148

jfH'ts of liis attack. His fRTv i'1(M|Ui'1kc', aided liy
a free distribution of Luther's writings, carried ail
before it, and in 1524 the canton of Zuricli re-
nounced its allejxiance to Rome and re-orj:anized
tlie church witliin its hounds in accordance with
Zwin^H's ideas. Other cities followed suit, the
le<ral civil authorities in each case formally declar-
ing in favor of the Kcformation and assuming the
direction of all religious alTairs. Thus the move-
ment in Switzerland was chietly concerned in the
abolition of external abuses and hore from the
^n•:^t a njarked jiolitical cliaractcr. It was the aim
of Zwingli, further, to reject everything not ex-
pressly commanded l)y the Word of (iod, and
thus i'lcak away as completely as possible from
the establislied religious customs; whereas Luther
a<lvocated the retention of whatever was harndess,
and laid all the stress of his ministry by voice and
pen upon the underlying d(K'trines of repentance
and faith.

It was in connection with the doctrine of the
Lord's Supper that the difTerence between the
\\\i) movements was to tind its culmination.
Luther, whose deep spiritual nature lived and
njnved in the realm of divine mysteries, found no
dilliculty in conceiving of the Ixxlily presence of
the Lord with the earthly elements of the commun-
ion.^ Zwingli's j)ractical mind, on the contrary,
welcomed the theory which removes all mystery
and makes the sacred meal but a memorial celebra-
tion. The conception was more congenial, also, to
the restless superficial s|)irit of the martial cantons
of the Swiss and to the minds of self-complacent
I liinianists. It found ready accei)tance in South-
western Germany among the pupils of Eras-
mus, who were then very widely scattered and
inthlential. It was oroclaimcd as the na.-t. liable.

Ill l.rTIIKH, Tin: HKKolJMKU.

advanced view, wluTcns T.utlur was supposed to
he ill this, as in liis treatment of ntlier external
ceremonies, hut half-awakened from his j)opish
dreams.

The unseemly strife hetween hnthren grew
more hitter as the years rolled on. The argu-
ments of Zwingli apj>eared to Luther, hy pevering
the two natures of Christ, to roh I lis atoning
work of its ellieaey and thus destroy the very hasis
of the (;osi)i'l. His susjiieions were conlirmeil
when he found Zwingli wavering upon the doe-
trine of original sin, and so exalting the virtues
of the heathen as to ap])arently deny alt«)grther
the necessity of the atonement. lie failed to note
in the writings of the latter any evidence of that
deep sense of personal guilt which lay at the very
foundation of his own experience and which even
yi't at times so entirely overpowtred him. When,
in addition, he ohserved Zwingli's constant exal-
tation of the P})iritual, as entirely a])art from all
relati(»n to outward ordinances, and found him
teaching a direct inlluence (»f the Holy Spirit, in-
dependent of the divine Word, ami looking to
])olitical schemes for the furtherance of thedospel,
lie hecame more than ever convinced that the
spirit of the latter wjis identical with that of the
Fanatics and woidd eventually lead to the samt»
excesses. He, therefore, waged a nlentless and
undiscriminating warfare against the "Sacramen-
tarians,'' who, up«»n their part, le<l hy Zwingli and
(ICcolampadius, nev<r wearied of ridiculing the
superstition nf the *' Hihl<'-tyrants" at Wittenherg.

None lamented the strife more sincerely than
Luther. He declared that *' the gates of lu'll, the
entire papacy, the Turks, the world, the tlesh and
all the powers of evil, could imt hav«' wrouiiht such
injury," and that he would gladly lay down his

UTIIKK AND ZWlNtJLI. 145

life many tiinis over to restore liarinonv; ''luit,"
he added: "the Word is too strong;; it liolds me
captive." In March, \i)2X, lie jni)>lishe<l an ex-
liaustive treatise, entitled: "Confession upon
the Lord's Supper. M. Luther." This he
desiLMH'd to he his tinal utterance upon the suh-
ject, and in it he warns all tlu- world to ahandon
the iilea that he can c\'er ])e induced to depart
from the positions here maintained. Should he
do so, he he^'s posterity to attrihute the wavering
to hodily or mental infirmity, and still rcL^ird this
treatise as the exj)ression of his immovahle con-
viction. To the further replies of Zwinirli and
othei-s, he paid no attention. He had home his
testimony, and could do no more.
10

ClIAITKrv XIV,

TiiK iu;ave protest.

While tliis ])l()0(ll('ps conflict was heing wa^rrd
between the (>j)p()sing chani])i<>ns within the ranks
of those wlio had escaped frnni the dominion of
paj)al errors, their common enemy was not idle,
liavaria had furnishc*! a luuulK'rof martyrs to the
( an<(' of the Uelormatiou, amon.ij tliem Leonard
Kaiser, a jn-rsonal ae(iuaintanee of Lutlur's.
Tlif latter pul»hshe<l a ;;raphic account of Kaiser's
arrest wliile on a visit to liis dying father and of
his cruel death at the stake, ])raying that (lod
might enahle Inm, when his hour should come, to
meet death with hut half the fortitude of his
heroic friend. Tnder a new wave of persecuting
zeal, a nund)er of evangelical ])reaehei*s were
driven out of Austria. Paul Winkler, a pastor
in llalle, sumnione(l to AsehalT(iil»nru' to answer
for having administereil the conniumion in hoth
forms, was assassinated upon the homeward jt)ur-
nev. His death was extttlled hy Luther as peeu-
liarly glorious, hiK'ause eneountered while in ohe-
dience to the lawful authority and in defence of
the doctrine of the Lord's Supj)er.

rpon tln' other hand, the lU^formation had
made notable conquests. Margrave (leorge, t»f
Frankfurt- ^l^Uldenl.uI•L^ in lo'JT, re-organized the
ehureh upon his t<rritory under the direction of
ministers furnished hy Luther, and became a
zealous adherent of the cause. Hrunswiek, Ham-
burg, (Joslar, LubcH'k and CJocttiugen openly
espoused the truth.

(lie;

TIIK P.IJAVK riJHTR-T. 117

Hut the I'jniMM'or IkkI iiuniiwliilc ncrnin nsolvc^i]
upon a<:ixivssive nicasun'S. llavini^'cnpturi'd Konic
and ukkIc tlu* I'npt' a j)ris()ii('r, he IkkI concliKU'd
t«'niis with tlu' latter cniln'acinir a plcd^^^e of strin-
•zcnt n'u'ulations anainst tlic Lutlicran heresy. The
Diet assenil)liMl at Spires on February 21st,
1529, was calK'd upon to face a stern imperial
mandate, requirinjj: the ahro<;ation of the edict of
toleration issued three years before, and express-
in«r in no measured terms the displeasure of the
monareh at the spread of the revolutionary doc-
trines. The Romish |)arty at the Diet, eneour-
atred l)y this assurance of the Emperor's support,
and bein^ in the majority, resolved that, in sec-
tions in which the Edict of Worms had hitherto
i»een lionored, its re«juirements sh(>uld still be
carried out, wliile in other places no further in-
novations sliould be made until the meetini^ of a
L-^cneral council. Doctrines and sects which deny
tile ])resence of the true body and blood of Christ
in the sacrament were not to !)e tolerated in the
kinirdoin. No ruler was to <^ive shelt«T to reli^dous
fujritives from a nei.i_dil)orinL; territory.

Thus, wliile the Diet did not unilertake to re-
store the old order of thinj^s where already aban-
doned, it pb^d^ed its authority to ])revent the
spread of th(» new principles, and to perform ])oliee
service for the persecuting princes in the restora-
tion of such ;is mii^ht escape from their grasp.
It was, further, very broadly binti'd that severer
measures would ere long be adopt<'<l.

The evangelical members of the Diet could not
be thus terrified into submission. To yield nuw
w(»uld l)e to surrender all that had been won by
the arduous toil of years. Only one (piestion
divi<le<l their counsels for a time. Should the
followers of Luther make common cause with

148 LUTHEK, THE IlEKOHMER.

the Zwinglians, who, ncconhiifj to the resohition
aiiiml sokly at them, were to he driven from the
kingdom? Tlie I^imlgrave Pliihp pleaded for
their recognition, while the Elector John was in
douht. The (juestion was referre<l to Melanch-
thon, and npon his advice it was decided to in-
clude these in any defensive measures which
niiL'ht he adojUed.

On the 19th of April, John nf Saxnuy, Thilip
of Hesse, Margrave Cieorge of Hrandenherg, Duke
Krnest of Liineberg, Prince Wolfgang of Anhalt.
and fourteen imperial cities presented a solemn
protest against the action of the majority. They
dt'clan-d tiiat, in matters which concern the honor
of Ciotl and the salvation of souls, they were com-
pelleil hy conscience to regard the will of (lod
above all else, and hence couM not agree to carry
out the resolutions of the Hiet. They further
maintained that in such matters every one must
give account of himself directly to CJod, and that
no one can excuse himself hy appealing to the
decisions of a majority. The Zwinglians, they
contende<l, should not he condenmcd without a
hearing, nor any such violent measures adoj)te<l
against them until a council shoidd have ])ro-
nounecil judgment upon their teachings. The
signers of this document were spoken of as the
'• Protestants," and tlieir hold, honest course has
1m tn innnortalized in the adoption of this term as
the distinctive designation of the moilern Christian
('hurch of the western world outside of the Roman
Catholic connnunion. That which has excited
tlie admiration of jiosterity is not merely the<(»ur-
age with which this little hand st«M)d up against
superior numhers and against the Kmperor, now
lluslu'<l with victory, hut the ground upon which
their action waa bahcnl, /. <., the clear enunciation

TIIK HKAVK PIJOTKST. 1 10

of \ho sacred rights of conscience, as against
tlic (l<tininati<»n of majorities (»r tlic inandatt'S of
tyranny, in tliis it l»ut irave formal and unitccl
utterance to tlie principles wiiieh the Monk of
W'ittonheri,' had holdly proclaimed eight years be-
f( )re.

Three days later, the Elector John, the Lantl-
^rave Philip and the representatives of the cities
of Nurember^r, Ulni and 8trassbur<; pledged
united resistance against any j^ower wliieh
shouM attack eitlier of the confederates ui)on the
ground of adherence to the (iospel.

It is worthy of remark, that Luther failed to
recognize either the genuine heroism or the far-
reacliing signiiieance of the great i>rotest. The
rejection of the imi)erial demands appeared to him
as merely the discharge of a plain, unavoidal)le
duty, and with its performance he would have had
the adherents of the Gospel rest content. The
subscMpKMit organization of the princes and cities
for defence alarmed him. lie could not be ])cr-
suadcd that the danger was so imminent as to re-
(|uire this, and it appeared to him to imply dis-
trust in the divine power. Had not (iod wonder-
fully protected them hitherto without any human
aid? Were it not far better to conlide in Him
now than to lean ui)on an arm of llesh ? lie
greatly feared, further, that the cause of truth
would sutTer by alliance with the HefornuTS whose
views wen' at such variance with his own.
Melanchthon, too, became very uneasy, and re-
gretted the ])art which he had taken in encourag-
ing the "terrible protest." Thus Luther's cour-
age and the natural timidity (»f Melaiulitli<.n
(ombiiu'd, in this as in later ])erio(ls. to discoun-
tenance political combinations which might
transfer the conlliet fmm the tribunal of free dis-
cussion to the arbitrament of arms.

150 M'TIIKU, TlIK HKFOHMFR.

But tho lionzon wasalnady dark with throaton-
\u\l clouds. The Kmpcror and the I'ope liad no
i?cruj)les to restrain lluni from rt'li«;i()us warfare,
anil tlie Proti^stant^s miglit at any moment l»e
called upon to draw arms in self-defence. How
important then that they he unite<l and j)rcpared
to act in concert aiiainst their common enemy!
Resistance of sucli «lriiiands as tliose now made,
Would not, it was claimed, l>e insurrection. Hut
Luther was immovalde. lit; maintained that it
is the duty of su))jects to endure wroni^ when per-
petrated by those in lawful authority, and to look
ft)r delivemnce to llim who can control the hearts
of princes and overrule the trials of His j^eople to
their own linal advantage. But the incrcasin*]j
jcravity of the situation led to a careful scrutiny of
this sweeping doctrine of submission, as applied to
political alTairs, and no one could lonirer douht
that, if driven to <les|)eration, the majority of the
princes W(»uld l»e ready to lift the sw(»rd in self-
defence.

The most serious difliculty in the way of a
cordial confederation of all the evangelical forces
now lay in the doctrinal dilTerences which yet
divide<i the j^reat emancipated host. How these
could 1m' reconciled became the jjressing tiuc>ti»>n
of the hour.

CIIAPTFR XV.

THK MAHHl'liG COLLOQl'Y.

In all the ])(>liti;al j)lans of tlir Prot<'stiints,
Philip of Hesse now Ir-IiI the ]>lacc of undis-
j.utcd Ira.lcrsliip. His youthful t'nerjzy, his uu-
llinching courage and his sagacity well fitted him
for the ]uTilous |»re-eininence. He had honestly
enihraced the fundamental teachings of Luther,
i)Ut rather from intellectual conviction than from
<lee]) religious motives; yet he was willing to main-
tain his convictions at all hazards. None realized
more clearly than he the serious dangers now
threatening, and he was untiring in his efforts to
unite all the anti-})a|)al elements. It seemed to
him an incredible infatuation that such a union
should he prevented l)v a mere doctrinal dispute
among the theologians, and he cast about for
means of overcoming this needless obstacle.
Already Ix-fore tlie Diet of Spires he had declared
that there must be a conference between Luther
and (Ecolampadius, if it cost him ()(K) guldens to
< fleet it. After the lines had there been so deeply
drawn i)etween the two great parties, the necessity
of harmony among the friends of the Reformation
became still more evi<lent, and Philip at once
cautiously a«ldressed himself to the Uisk of bring-
ing the warrini: theologians face to face.

Tiie Wittenberg men had no sympathy what-
ever witii tilt; movement, and sougiit in ev<ry imn-
onible way to avoid a meeting which they felt
<ould ;iccom])lish nothing more than further alieii-
..li'.n. l>ut they could not resist the urgency of
(151)

152 Ll'THEU, THE HEFOUMER.

the I^n<l^ra\'e an<l tlic wishes of their own
prince, who felt tliat the refusal of a rcMjuest so
seeiniii^ly reasonahle would certainly be misin-
trri-n t.-.f.

Zwingli, on the contrary, was filled with de-
light ujHin re<"eivin«: the invitati<»n. Having suc-
r»«dr<l in extending; his inlhu-nc r in Switziiland,
he had conceived the idea of fnnninir a ^reat in-
ternational confederacy to resist the Kn»j>eror's
encroachments. He had even made propositions
of alliance with the King of France on the east
and Vienna on the west, ignoring thus the most
extreme religious difTerences for the accomplish-
ment of his ])<>litical dream. If the pr<»pose<l con-
ference should achieve no more, it would at least
enahle him to piin the sym})athy of Philip, and
with it the support of all Southern and Western
(lermany. History accords to Zwingli a jrenuine
religious zeal, hut for him religion and politics
were one, and his patriotism and piety were now
alike aflame with the idea of grasping the golden
opportunity to throw oiT the yoke of media*val
hondaire.

Fearing opjiosititni to the project upon the j»art
of his friends, the Swiss reformer slipped away
from Zurich secretly on Se|»tend)er 1st. He sjMut
twelve days at Strasshurg seeking to advance his
cause, and, arriving early at Marhurg, the j>lace of
meeting, swured an audience with the I.an<lgmve
before the arrival of Luther with his j)arty. On
Friday, October 1st, by a ]>rudent arrangement of
IMiilip, Luther was closeted for three hours with
(F/dlampadius, while in an<»ther ro«»m Zwingli
and Melanchthon compared views.

On the following day, the formal discussion
l»cgan. It was, according to the olVu iai instruc-
tions, to be an *'out*<iK)ken, friendly and undis-

TiiK MAunnn: coLUKiiY. 153

putatioiis conversation." A nuinlxTof tliroloiiians
and scholars were present, and the Landgrave
himself followed the discussion with unflagging
interest. Directly l»efore the latter, at a se]mratc
tahle, were seated Luther, Zwingli, Mclanchthon
and Ov'olanipadius. Luther, who had written
with clialk u])(»n the tal)le-cover: " Hoc est cor-
pus meum " (This is my body), o])en«(l the col-
loquy l»y announcing that he ])ro])()sed merely to
maintain the positions which he had assumed in
his writings, and that, if the opposite ])arty had
anytliing to advance against the truth, he was
ready to hear and refute them. He proposed that
a wide range ]>e given to the discussion, as he
understood that the Swiss entertained erroneous
views upon a number of the most vital su])jects,
such as original sin, the nature of Christ, bajttism,
etc. The latter expressed themselves as willing
to testify their helit^f upon these subjects, but
desired to begin the discussion with the doctrine
of the Lord's Sup])er, to which Luther agreed.

For two days the debate continued, without
developing any arguments not ])reviously ad-
vanced. Again and again, Luther ])ointe<l to the
words upon the table, and at length tore ofT the
cover and dramatically held it up as the final
answer to all the objections of his opponents. A
private meeting of the theologians on the f«»l-
lowing nmrning |)roved e(|ually fruitless.

Zwingli and his party then desired that they be
heard in regard to the other articles of faith to
which reference had been made, and Luther, upon
re(juest, at once ])repared a statenunt in fifteen
brief articles for mutual consi«leration. They
covered the leading topics of his own teaching,
and, Ui his amazement, wen» acc<'pted on the sam(^
day, with a few slight verbal changes, by all the
theologians present.

154 LUTIIKH. TIIK ItEFOKMER.

Thus tho (lifTrronces had been narrowcil i\n\\n
to tlie one point, /. e., Xhv IxKlily ])rrs('nce of
Christ in xlw Lord's Sn]»])('r. The Lan<lL:nive was
(ltli«:htc(l, and exhorted l>oth ])arti(s to t»>h'ration
an<l llie exercise of hrotlierly love. Zwin«;H and
liis friends readily ajxreed to so conduct themselves,
and proposed that all should consent to acknowl-
eil<re one another as hrethren, and that each ]K\rty
sln»uld welcome the other at the Tahle of the
Lord. With this proposition, Zwin«;li extended
his hand to Luther, hut the latter refused to make
such acknowled^Miient of fraternity, declarinji, as
he had frtHpuntly done during' the colliMjUy,
"You liave a different spirit from ours."
Zwingli ])leaded, even with tears, and, turning to
the Landjxrave, declared: ''There are no men in
the world with whom I would rather he in har-
mony than with the ^^'ittenherJ:ers. " Hut in
vain. Luther was ready to jrrant to the o])posite
]»arty oidy such exhihitions of Christian love as
are due to one's enemies. To the declaration of
the fifteenth of the adopted articles, acknowledg-
ing the spiritual presence of the Lord in the Holy
Supper, was ad<led the statement: " lUit, although
we have not agreed at this time whether the true
body and hlood of Christ are hodily in the hrcatl
an<l wine, yet each ])Mrty promises to exercise to-
wanl the other Christian love, in so far as th(»
con.'icicnce of each will at all allow, and h«»th
parties earnestly implore (Io(l, the Almighty, that
lie may through His Spirit grant us the right
understlinding." The articles were then
signed hy Luther. Melan<hthon, Jonas, Osiander,
Hrenz, Agricola, (iMolamjuidius, Zwingli, Huccr
and IL'dio, and at once given to the press.

No act (»f Lutlier's life has been subje<te(l to
more divei-su comment than his refusal to take

TlIK MAKIUIU; ("oM.fK^rV. 1 ') .')

tlic profTorod hand of Zwiiiirli at Marl)ur^'. In tin*
light of our modern ideas of mutual toleration, it
has the a]>i><'aran(e of insutTerahle ))i,i:otrv; hut a
eandid consideration of the eireumstanees nuist
j^reatly modify, if it do not entirely reverse, such
harsh judirnient. Let it he rememhered that the
colloquy was not an unbiased gathering of
theolojrians to discuss nliLMnus suhjccts for their
own sake. It was ]»lann<'d in furtherance of a
j)olitical scheme which Luther did not approve,
i)Ut which his opponents considered vital. The
desire upon their ])art for Luther's endorsement
did not therefore s])rin^ from pure Christian love.
Ajrain, the point at issue was not a vital one in
the juilgment of tlie Swiss, while to Luther it ap-
peared to involve the very foundations of the
Christian faith. The denial of it seemed to him
to indicate contem]»t for the j)lain language of the
Scriptures, the rejection of the divinity of Christ
and a proifanation of His most sacred ordinance,
as well as to open the door for all manner of god-
less fanaticism. Nor did the assent of these men
to the other articles satisfy him. Tlis astonish-
ment was mingled with deep suspicions, ;is he
knew how strongly p(>litical considi-rations
prompted them to seek at Icjust ajtpan-nt harmony,
rpon the one j)oint which had for years heen
made the test-(piestion hetween the diverse ten-
dencies, and in view of which alone the conference
had been called, not the slightest ap])roximation
to harmony had been made.

Should Luther now allow the rejiort to go
abroad, that he had at the critical moment com-
promised with the enemy ? Should he thus cast
the weight of his influence in favor of what he
believed to be an uidioly alhance which woidd
deluge the land in bldtMJ :iiid incur the \\r;itli of

156 LUTIIEH, THE REFORMER.

the Aliniuhty ? No! he would not allow his name
t«> l)t' tlms misused. \lv would niakt* no com-
promise with error, even under the ;ruise (»f
charity. He whom tlie tlireats of an Emperor
could not terrify was not to Ik- suhdued hy the
tears of a di.sai)j)ointed politician. He was im-
movahle — as ever, true to his convictions.

That those who hear the name of Lutlier to-(lay
should he le<l l>y liis example upon this critieal
(K-easion to permanently refuse fellowship at
the Lord's Tahle with all win* do not accept in
full the strictest Lutheran view of the sacred ordi-
nance, can he consistently maintained only upon
the supposition that the j)ersons thus excluded
really occuj)y the position attrihuted to Zwinjxli
and his followers, i. e., that they are insincere in
their j)rofessions of piety, despisers of (lod's
Word, inspired hy Satan in their stuhhorn oppo-
sition to the truth. Luther's denial of altar fellow-
ship was no mere ]»nttest a^^unst the error of an
aeknowled«r(.(l Cliristian l)r«)ther: it was an indiji-
nant rejection of all fellowship with those whom
he conceived to he the inost danj^erous enemies
of Christ. He is a hold partisan who would to-
day ascrihe such a character to all professing
Christians without the hounds of our own Luth-
eran church.

C'lIAlTKrv XVT.

PHErAKINC. TO MKKT TIIF. KMrKKOH.

The colloquy at Marl)ur<r rcMKk'rcd a licrmancnt
service in leadiiif? to the j)reparation of a concise
statement of the chief points of evangelical doc-
trine. Prepared in haste, within at most a few
hours, hy the master hand of Lutlicr, this lirief
formula j)roved the living germ t'lciii which \v;is
develo])ed the remarkalilc confessional literature
of the sixteenth century, which has moulded the
entire suhse<iuent history of the Protestant church.

Before leaving: Marhur.L', Luther and his associ-
ates received instructions from the Elector to ]>re-
pare a statement of the articles of faith which
niifrht serve as a hond of union for the Protestant
Leajzue, a meetinfr of which was to l)e held at
Schwahach on Octoher Kith. To meet this r<'-
quirement, Luther simjtly recast the Marhur;^
Articles. The latter had Ix'cn ]>rejiared with a
view of securin.L' as far as ]»ossihle th(» assent of
the Swiss theolo<:ians. No lon^^'cr restrained hy
such considerations, Luther now expressed more
positively his own convictions, especially upon
the suhject of the Lord's Supper. He inserted
also an article setting forth the Church as the
general fellowship of helievers, in contradistinction
from the hirrarchical view of the Romanists — a
doctrinal |»osition which has maintain<Ml its place
suhstantially in all the preat Protestant confes-
sions. Theseventeen articles tlm- oriL'inatecl, after-
wards known as the '• Schwabach Articles,"
were acceptahle to tlie Saxon court, but, on ac-
(lo7)

158 Ll'TIIKU, TIIK KKFonMKK.

count of tlu'ir ptricttr tone, ])rovcil unsntisfnctory
to the 8out)j (icnnan (U-legatcs at the convention,
and action upon them was po8t]>one<l. They
failed of aeceptiinee also, for the same reason, at
a larjrer convention luM at Smaleald, on Novem-
h(T L'^Uh; hut, while rejected hy those who in-
eliiu'd to Zwin;ilian views, tliey were inlluential
in str<'n«:th( nin<r the convictions of those who
still followed the leadership of Saxony.

As Luther returned t(^ Wittenberp, all eyes
were turned in a new direction. The Sultan
Soliman was storming Vicima. The imaginary
war with the Turks, for which the roi)e had so
often collected large sums in (iermany, had he-
come a reality, and the land was lilltMl with terror.
Luther, who had in his earlier writings ridiculed
the insincere (»uteries of the ]mpal emissaries, and
who might have foreseen advantage for his own
cause in this new cmharrassment of the Emj)eror,
now i)roved his patriotism hy ]ni!>lishing a
'* Martial Sermon against the Turks," sum-
moning his countrymen as (iermans, regardless of
their religious dilTerences, to respond to the call of
the l''m|iiror and defend their tin-sides from the
harharous fo<'. The Landgrave IMiilip ])roposed
that no aid he given to the Km]>eror against the
Turks uidess he should lii*st guarantee religious
peace to his suhjects in (Jcnnany; hut Luther
was unwilling to enter into any negotiations of
this character, maintaining that the support of
the lawful authority of the land is a simple duty
which must he discharged at all hazards. He
sought to overcome any scru]»les which might he
<*ntertained against warfare un<ler such circum-
staiHi's, although it might he just as clearly a
duty to dis(»hey the Kmperor shouM he summon
Itis suhjects to war against the (iospel. Soliman

IMJKl'AKI.NC TO MKKT TIIK KM I'KKt )K. l.")!l

was ilcft'iitcd, and tlic tlii\ati'iiiii^^ peril for tlic
tiino ln'in^ avt-rtod.

On Frhruarv 24tli, the Kniixror was crowned
by the Pope at liolo<ina, and at onei' announeid
his purpose of visiting (iennanv in jterson. A
Diet was summoned to meet at Augsburg on the
8tli of April, professedly to " heal tin* (hvisions in
tlu' C'hureh, committinj^ the errors of the past to
the jud«rnient of the Lord, and, after ])atiently
hearing the opinions of all parties in the spirit of
love anil forl>earanee, to arrive at harmonious
views of Christian truth." The Elector John,
uiK)n receiving the imj)erial notice on March 11th,
inuncdiately instructed Luther, Jonas, lUigen-
fiagen and Melanchthon to prepare a statement
of the ])oints in controversy for the use of himself
and his friends at the Diet. The result of their
lahors in response to this call, handed to the
P^lector ten days latiM', is known to history as the
*' Torgau Articles."

'i'ii»- l^lictor and his counselors, realizing what
a wide field of discussion would he oi)ened up if
the terms of the oflicial summons were ohserved
at Augshurg, and resolving to he prepared for
every possible emergency, gathered in advance
all hnoks and papers within tlieir reach thr(>wing
light upon the religious c]Uestions at issue or upon
the mutual relations of the I'jnjxTor and the es-
tates of the realm. Three chests were refpiired to
carry these valual)le documents.

In April, Luther, Melanchthon and Jonas
j«»urneyed with the electoral retinue as far as
Coburg, near the border of Saxony, where the
KeftMiMt r was to find a secure refuge in the castle.
It was hi.s desire, and that of his j)rince as well,
that he should accompany the party to the Diet,
hut, as he was still under the ban of the empire,

160 UJTIIKK, THK KKKnKMKlJ.

it wa« not thoiiplit best to so openly <lefy the aii-
tliority of the nionareh. Luther niiively expri'ssetl
ti) a friend his suspieion that he was left hehind
heeaiise he was known to have a truuhUsouie
tongue.

CHAPTER XVTT.

A 9f:coxd imprisonment.

Another ri<l<' in the iiijzlit, wliidi must Ikivo
vividly rcrallrd the evriits of niiR' years hcfore,
and Lullicr found liinist'lf a_l,^'lin in a "r('i:i(»n of
birds." The tine old castle on the l)ank of the
Itz met every re«|uirement of quiet comfort.
His frien«l, Veit Dietrich, and a nephew, C'uriaeus,
Were connnissioned to keep him company, while
the thirty servants stood ready to do his hiildin«^.
After surveying the grounds, the ]»ris()ner-guest
-pent the atternoon in writing clieerful letters to
his friends and ma])ping out a scluMue of work fnr
the idle hoin-s hefore him. To Melanditlion he
wr<»te : "We have arrived at our Sinai, hut we
will make a Zion out of it."

I li< first eoncern was for liis unfmislied lahors
ill the translation and expounding of the
Scriptures. During the tive months of his iso-
lation here he accomplished no little in this direc-
lioii. When liis j>hysical ailments incapacitated
liini fnr severe mental lah<>r, he turned fn»m the
interpretation of the intricate j»rophecies of K/a-
kiel and rested himself hy further elucidation nf
the I'salms. He wrote in Latin upon the walls of
his study the «juotations fnun his heloved I'salter:
* I shall not die, hut live, and declare the works
of the Lord." " The way of the ungodly .--hall
perish."

He had l(»ng cherished the idea of translating
the fables of iEsop and puhlishing them witji
appropriate comimnts, in order that the chiMren
11 CKil;

1(12 LrTHEU, TlIK UEFOHMEU.

miplit in this attractive fomi be taught the duty
nf livin;r *' wisely and ]ieaceal>ly anion;: the wicked
niultitudi' in this false and evil world/ ' He found
time, h(»wever, to tlius treat hut tliirtccn <>f the
aiuient colleetion.

For exercise, he amused himself hy ])raeti<ing
with the cross-bow, and his attendant triumph-
antly recorded a masterly shot which pierced a
hat directly throu^di the heart. It was here, lus
always in his warfare, a creature of darkness that
suffered at his hand.

He found unfailing deli^dit in listening to the
twitleriiiL' of the hinls. He di'scrihes in detail a
••Diet of Rooks," assembled in a cluster of
hushes beneath his window, screaminir day antl
night witliout ceasing, as though they were all
roaring drunk. (Jreat and mighty lords they
seemed to him, although he was unable to discern
the emperor among them. It afforded him great
amusement to observe with what lordly dignity
they swung their tails and wiped their bills as
they broke down the hedges and ])repared to gain
a glorious victory over the grain fields. " Success
to tlieir |iilfering." he cries, ''and may they all
together be impaled upon a hedge-pole ! "

Pieking up a stray leaflet with a snatch of an
old song upon it, set to music of three parts, he
recast the music, added notes for the fourth voice,
appended a few dogi;erel lines to suit the measure,
and sent it to Augshurg, gravely rci'ommentling to
his friends its jmblication there as a welcoming
ode to the Knijierorand F»rdinand.

His letters to the family circle at Wittenberg
are full of tJM' .piaintest liunior and unfailing
go(xi cheer. His j»ower of entering into sympathy
with the feelings of innocj'nt chihlhooti is strik-
ingly sliown in a letter to Ids son, Hans, dcscrib-

A SECOND IMPRISONMENT. 163

in;: a hraiitiful jjanb'n, with all manner of fruits
and tlowers, in wliich were at j»lay liappy little
chiklren having liorses witli golden hridles and
silver saddles. But, of course, tlure nuist be a
moral even to this fairy tale, and little Hans is
j)lainly warned that the charniing place is open
only to chiMren who are good and who ])ray and
study well. A j)icture of his infant daughter,
Magdelena, hung above his table in the dining-
room.

On January oth, word was brought of the
death of his aged father. Deeply moved, he
grasj)ed his Psalter and hastened to his room to
weep. He bewailed the death of such a father,
through whom God had bestowed U])on him life
and all his faculties, and who by hard toil had
nourished his tender years and supported him at
the I'niversity. He recalled the hours of sweet
fellowship enjoyed with him in later years, and
rejoiced that his father had lived to see the light
of truth, and had died ])eacefully in the faith of
Chri.st. While thus finding comfort, he realized
more keenly than ever the awful j)ower of death,
and praised (iod for the grace which enables i>oor,
weak men thus to triumj)h over it.

But the walls of the Coburg could not confine
tlie Reformer's thoughts to his personal relati<»ns.
He could not forget the great conflict without.
Never was he more confident, more intrepid, more
conscious of Ins special calling. Within three
weeks he had prepared an Address to the Clergy
at Augsburg, by which he proposed to make
amends for his bodily absence. He trenchantly
reviews the events of the past years; reminds the
bishops of the service which lie has ren<lered them
in freeing them from the swarms of monks that
had, like llcas, infisted Cliribtendum; recalks the

164 LUTHEK, THE REFORMER.

loii;; list (»f uhominations agiiinst which lie had
protested, many of whieh they wen* in their folly
still seekinj,' to holster U]); and warns them of the
(lisonlers which must result if they continue to
disjiute the riizhteous claims of the (Jospel and its
adherents. " Vou know as well as we that you
are living without the Word of (Jod, whereas we
liave it. It is, therefore, our earnest desire and
most liumhle prayer that you may give (iod the
glory, consider, repent and reform. If not, then
you will have to deal with me. Livin«r, I will he
your jtestilence, and dying, I will he your death.
You will have no rest from my name until you
eitlur reform your ways or j^erish miscrahly.''

Such was Luther's lirst contrihution to the pro-
posed reconcilation of Christ and lielial at the
Diet. We shall have occasion to ohserve how
potent was his inlluence in all its deliherations.
lie had, indeed, little hope that the Diet would
accomplish any real good. He still spoke of the
ICmperor as "the good and pious Charles," hut
h< lieved him hel}>less as a lamh surrounded hy
ravening wolves. His only concern was that the
representatives of the trutli might make a bold
and fearless profession of their faith. When
rejM<rl.s of wavering ami compromise reached him,
he hecame impatient, and sent message after
message to stimulate tlie courage of his friends.
To Melanchthon he wrote : " 1 hate your fears.
It is not the greatne.'^s of the cause which awakens
them, Imt the greatness of our uidulief. If our
cause is wrong, let us recant ; if it is ri^zht, why
do we make(l<»d a liar hy douhting His promises?
Was it to the wind, or to dumh l)easts, that Ho
gave the command, 'Cast your care upon the
Lord?' I a<ljure you, wlio are in all else so
valiant, fight against ycturself, your own worst
enemy."

A SKCOM) IMPinsONMKNT. lOo

T<> Chancelor Kriick, the most liopcful in spirit
among the little ((unpany, ho wrote: "1 have
lately seen two wonderful things. First, as I
was looking out of my window, 1 saw the stiirs in
the sky and the whole heautiful firmament of
Ciod ; and yet I saw nowhere any ])illar set up hy
the Master to suj)i)ort this lirmament. Still, the
sky did not fall, and the lirmament is yet stand-
ing securely. Now, there are some who look for
such pillars, and would like to la}' hold of them
and feel them, and hecause they cannot do this,
they tremhle and go into convulsions, as though
the sky would now certainly fall, for no other
reason than hecause they cannot lay hold u]>on or
see the i)illars. * * * The other wonder which I
saw was this : Great, thick clouds were floating
over us, so heavy that they might he com})ared to
a great ocean, and yet I saw no foundation upon
which they rested or stood, nor any tuhs in which
they were held. Nevertheless, they did not fall
upon us, hut greeted us with a threatening coun-
tenance and tied away. When they were j)ast,
there shone out that which held them up, as hoth
their su])port and our roof, the rainhow. * =i^ *
Yet there are some who, in their fear, look ujxin
and regard the thick and heavy weight of waters
and cloutls more than this thin, narrow and light
shadow. They would like to feel the strength of
this shadow, and hecause they cannot do this,
they are afraid that the clouds will produce an
everlasting del uge. ' '

Hut this holdncss of Luther was niaintain(Ml
only hy earnest prayer. His a.ssoeiate, I)ietri<h,
has recorde(i that thre(M)f the hours most valuahle
for study were daily spent in this exercise. Once,
by acci<lent, he caught the very language of the
earnest, hold petitions: "I know tliat Thou art

KJn LITIIEU, THE HEFORMER.

onrCiojl and Fatlicr. I :un ((Ttain, tliorcforo, tliat
Tliou wilt l>rin'; to sliaino tlie piTsccutors of Thy
cliildrrii. If Thou dost not, the peril is Ixith
Thine and ours. The whole alTair is Thine."

Several vij^orous controversial tracts issued
from the Col)urir. In one of these the subject of
purgatory is thoroughly treated. Luther, held
by his traditional einu'eptions, had long been
willing to grant the existence of sueh a plaee of
torture, but he now repudiated the i<lea entirely,
and with unllinehing severity uncovered the
"shameful lies and abominations" that were
based upon the doctrine. He elucidated also
more fully than heretofore, in special publica-
tions, th(» sphere of the Church's power and
its limitations, with sjtccial reference to the exist-
ing state of things. The tone ami contents of
these clocuments must have efTectually allayed
the fears of any who may have been alarmed by
Zwingli's charge that Luther was shrinking back
toward the Roman foM.

Numerous ]>ersonal letters of consolation
may be traced to these fruitful m(»nths, as well as
a careful selection of scriptural j)assages calcu-
lattMl to bring comfort to those in distress, and a
fervent admonition to all to meekly bear the cross.
The latter may have Ix-cn suggested by the arrival
of a handsome seal-ring j>rescnted by the prince,
John Fredcriek. The original coat-of-arnns of
the Luther family liad been a cross-ltow with a
rose upon each side. The new design, elaboratinl
l>y Luther as an embodiment of his theology, he
Idnjself thus explains: First, let tiiere be a cross
in black within a heart of natunil color, that I
may be reminded that faith in the ('rucilie<l saves
US. Although it is a black cross, which crucilies
and may be t'Xpctrtid to give pain, yc t it leaves

A SECOND IMrUISoNMKNT. 167

tlio lioart in its own color, does not destroy
nature, i. e., it docs not kill, hut urosorvcs alive;
for tlie just lives hy his faith in the Crucified.
Let the lieart stand in the midst of a wliitc rose,
to indicate that faith «xives joy, comfort and i)eace.
Let the rose he white, and not red, for white is
the C()l(»r of spirits and all angels. The rose
stands in a field of celestial color, })ecause such
joy in tlie Spirit and in faith is a foretaste of the
heavenly joy now assured to the heliever and to
he freely revealed hereafter. Around the field of
hlue let there he a golden circle, to indicate that
the hlessedness of heaven endures forever, and is
precious heyond all joy and wealth, as gold is the
nohlest and most precious metaL

ciiAP'ri:i: xviii

THE CHEAT CONFESiJlON.

At liMiiitli tho Kinporor arrivo^l with crn^at pomp
at Aiiirsl»urir. His first onlcr forbade the preach-
ing nf tln' i*n»tr>t:int )>:irty, and rctpiircci iIrmm all
to join in the procession on the following: day,
wliicli was the festival of Corpus CMiristi. The
latter linally a«:reed to yield the liherty of preneh-
iniX for the time heinir, jirovided the same restrie-
tion were laid upon their adversaries. In the
iclolatrous procoHsion, however, the Kvaniielieal
Princes declined to participate, asserting:: that their
consciences would not allow them to do so. Tin*
concession was reiMrded as a great victory by the
Komish party, who tiiemselves cared l)Ut little for
tlie privilcLT** of preaehinj:; hut the absence of so
lari^'e an<l respectahle a ]>ortion of the Diet from
the procession was a striking evidence of the wide-
spread defection from th<' pajial ranks.

Melanchthon had toiled faithfully in recasting
the Articles of Smalcald and Torgau. The result
of his lal)ors, since known to the world as the
Augsburg Confession, having nx'eived the en-
dorsciiient of I.ntlnr, was signed hy the Protest-
ants on .lune 2.*M and presented to the Diet June
30th. The Kmperor desired that it he (juietly
handed to him, hut, upon the demand of the sign-
ers, permi.ssion was given for tlie reading of the
(lerman copy, a duty which was admimhly per-
formed hy the Saxon Chancellor. Priick.

The document, in the first twenty-one articl(»s,
presents the leading doctrines of the Scriptures
(IDS)

Tin: CHKAT (X)NFESSION. 1()9

witli judicial calmness and diLMiily, in languap' of
transjuiivnt simplicity, and then, in seven articles,
dt'siirnatcs the leading abuses aj^ainst which tes-
timony had been borne by the Heiormcrs. Luther
read and re-read the articles, deliLdited witli their
lucidity and liti'rary tinish, declarinu^ that he could
not have troddi-n so lightly, yet well satisfied to
tind in tliem the essentials of the faith. When he
learned that they had actually been presented to
the Diet as the unanimous confession of the Evan-
p'lical Estates, his exultation wils unbounded.
He saw in the act a fulfilment of the declaration
of tlie Psalmist : "I will sj)eak of thy testimonies
also before kint;s, and will not be ashamed," and
thanke<l God that he had lived to see the day.

The course of history has fully justified his esti-
mate of the event. The })olitical combinations
ami }tlans, which to many seemed matters of su-
jtreme importance, are now well nijzh for^^otten,
but tlie Augsburg Confession yet stands befori'
tlie World as the vital embodiment of the spirit of
the Reformation and one of the grandest trophies
of the Christian ages. In it we find, in perfect
combination, Luther's prophetic vision of pro-
foundest spiritual truth and Melanchthon's
matchless skill in accurate exjjression. It has
been j»ractically the model for all subse(]uent
Protestant confessions, and, translated into many
languages, tlie firm bond of union between all
l>ranches of the great Lutheran communion.

The reading of the Confession made a deep im-
pression upon the a.ssenjbly. Its ])rin(iples were
so large ly in accord with the accej>ted doctrines of
the Church, so reasonable, and so convincingly
stated, that prejudices faded away before it, and
the bitterest enemies were inspired with deep re-
spect for their antagunistd.

170 LrTHER, TIIK HKFORMER.

Fonrcitios, led hy Strnssl>ur<?, proscntj^l thronpli
tlu'ir rcprcst'iitalivt'S an iinltjxii.lriit cniifcs.-ii.n,
known to history as the Tetrapolitana, au'l
Zwingli a<l(lr«-ssi'(l to tliu Kinporor a statement of
hisown vifwsand those of liisininiediateassociates.
Of the hitter, nothing; more was lieard, while the
former attained some importance at a hiter (hiy as
an exposition of views intermediate between those
of I.uther and Zwin<:li. Neither played any further
part in the ])roeeedin,«rs of the Diet.

The KmjKTor appointed a eonnnissJMn of lend-
in*; Komish theolo^dans to ])repare a Refutation.
The result of their labors, after having heen
several times referred haek to them as imsatisfac-
tory, was finally accepted and read to the Diet on
Aujiust 8d as the expn^ssion of the Emj)eror's
views, in accordance with which he ])roposed to
regulate his course in the matter. The re<|U(\^t of
the Reformers for an oflieial copy was refused.
Three days later, Philip of Hesse, in disgust, Kft
the city without imperial pfTinission.

\'arious efforts were made to effect a com-
promise between the opposing parties — a result to
wliich the Emperor would have ))y no means been
averse. The Romanists, under the direction of
the papal legate, Campeggio, who was extraordi-
narily liberal in his own views, ma<le larL'c eon-
c<'Hsi(»ns upon points of d(M'trine, whil«' Melanch-
thon was ready to yield much in tlu* sphere of
outward obs«Tvances, even to the ext«'nt of recog-
nizing the jurisdiction of the Roman bishops in
the temponil alTairs of the Church. Wet ks of
t^nliouH negotiations proving utterly fruitless, the
Emperor on September ITlh announce<l that he
wouM labor to scM-ure the calling of a general
council, but that the Prot4'stants must meanwhile
conform U) all the ri'«iuirements of the estal>lishetl

THE (iHKAT (ONFKSSION. 171

Chunli. The latter ri'plied, :is at Spires, that
tlu'V coiiM not disobey their eonscienees.

Afti'r further ])arley, the KniixTor on September
22(1 (leelared tliat the Confession had been re-
futed and rejected, and that he proposed to
unite with the Pope and other Christian jirinees
in exterminating the troublesome seet that had
,L:iven it l>irth. The Elector Jolni left Au<rsl)urg
on the followinfr <hiy. Luther joined his retinue
at Cobur«?, and, after si)endin^ some days with the
court at Torgau, returned to Wittenberg. He had
taken no interest in the proceedings following the
}>resi'ntation of the Confession, exce}>t to examine
ami passionately condenm the various formulas
of eomjjromise suggested and constantly urge his
fri( nds to steadfastness in maintaining the truth
which they had so gloriously confessed.

Tlie formal edict was j)romulgated Nov(Mnber
VM\\. It allowed the Protestants live months for
rcilection, })romised earnest effort to secure the
calling of a council within six months, l)ut for-
l)ade in the meanwhile tlie printing or sale of
evangelical documents or the making of j)rose-
lyt<s, and demanded the restituti<jn of cloisters,
submission to the authority of Uomish l)ishops,
etc. Luther set the exanjjjle of obedience (?) by
publisliing at once a scathing review of the
'•so-called iiuperial edict," in the name of the
trutli defying "all emperors, wliether Roman,
Turk or 'fartar, Pope, cardinals, bishops, i)riest*<,
princes, lords, and the whole world, with all the
devils l)esides." He denounced the apparent
friendliness of tln' ])apal party, as l)ut manifest-
ing their willingness to sacrilice the very ci'utral
doctrines of their system touching salvation if
tiny miu'ht but secure their Imld upon the bene-
liccs AWi] ni:iiiit;iiii tlitii- >c.iii(lal(»iis d is>.ip;ition.

CHAPTER XIX.

WAH eL«»l i>- M \ 1 M'.

Thk qnostion wliothcr armed resistance of
the Emperor would uiuU'r any circuiiistanccs Ik*
justilicMl, now }>ecanie an intensely j)ractiial one.
Luther still ur^^cd the duty of sulmiis.^ion to law-
ful authority at any sacrilice. liut wlnn the
counselors of the Elector jjointed out tliat the
Emperor's course itself was illepd as he was
transcending the limits of the authority vested in
his otfice hy the constitution of the empire under
whicli he had heen elected, Luther iinally with-
drew his opposition, casting the responsjltility of
deciding the legal (juestions involve<l ujton the
jurists, within whose j>rovinc(' such matters lay.
Scrupk's of consciences l)eing thus allaytnl, the
princes were not slow in prejiaring fur the worst.
At a convention of the Smalcald League, held in
Decemher, the confederates resolved to resist with
their united forces any attempt to execute the
edict of Augshurg.

Duke Ferdinand was in January, loiU, in
acconlance with the Enij»vror's desire, hut in dis-
regard of the constitutional rights of the (ierman
jtrincts, < rownrd King of the Roman Empire
of Germany at Cologne — a st« p calculated to
greatly facilitate the execution of the Emperor's
plans on (Jcnnan territory during the prolonged
abHcnccH of the latter. The Evangelical Princes
were strongly averse to the new arrangement, hut
only the Saxon Elector ventun*d to enter public
protest againat it. The lines were now lirinlv
(172)

WAIi CLDIDS STAVKI). 17.'>

drawn U]»on l>')th sides, and all looked forward
witli anxiety to the inevital)le elash of arms.

The cities of Southern Germany were still
oxeluded from the cniifcdiratinn of the ovan«:eli-
cal princes npon doctrinal ^'rounds. ThroiiL'h the
active mediation of Bucer, they were uow induced
to a<lopt a new fornmla, suhscrihed also hy <Eco-
lam])adius, in which they ai)proached much more
nearly to Luther's view of the Lord's Supper.
This document, thoujxh not altogether satisfactory
to the latter, led him to assume a more tolerant
attitude, and was regarded hy the princes as a
sutlicient concession to entitle its signers to repre-
sentation in the Smalcald League, which was thus
greatly strengthened.

All efforts to prevail upon Zwingli to m<»(lify
the statement of his extreme vi<ws proved futile.
lie became, however, more deei»ly involved in
the political contlicts of his native land, an<l
met a patriot's death upon the field of Cap-
pel, October 3Lst, 153L CEcolampadius died a
few weeks later, and the influence of Switzerland
in the doctrinal discussions of (Jermany rapidly
waned, while the crushing defeat of Zwingli's
plans banished all thought of political combina-
tions in that (piarter.

Having entered the field of politics, the League
now cmbrace(l the o])portunities soon afforded of
forming strange alliances. The Dukes of lia-
varia, althou<;h strict Romanists, were exceed-
ingly jealous of th(i encroachments of the Emperor
and stood ready to join the Protestants in resist-
ing the latter, while the Kings of France and
Kngland, impelle'l by similar motives, sent mes-
sages of encouragement. All such movements
couM but increase Luther's instinctive distrust
of the entire method of political mnf. .brMtioii.

17 i Ll'TlIKK, THE HEFOHMEU.

He insisted tliat the cause of truth would he much
safer if left Fimply in the hands of (Jod.

lUit the cry for peace now eanie from the camp
of the adversary. Tlie Turkisli arnjy again in-
vaded Austria in tlic sjirinj^ of 1532, and the
services of tlic Snialcald heroes were sorely
needed by the Emperor. He j)roposed tlnre-
fore to grant to the actual mend)ers of the League
immunity from persecution until the assemhling
of the proj)osed council. The latter were not
satisfied with the concessions granted, hut in-
sisted that similar privileges should he accorded
to any others who might in the future join their
ranks. It was only hy the m(>st strenuous elTorts
of Luther that they were linally induced to accept
the terms thus offered. The *' Religious Peace
of Nuremberg," which was then guaranteed,
while hut a temi)orary arrangement, was a great
trium|»h for the cause of the Reformation. It
gave ollieial recognition and political standing to
the followers of the hniely monk win) had eleven
years hefore heen j»roelaimed an accursed outlaw.
Yet it came unsought, and was ])ossihle at last only
heeause that same monk exerted all his inlluence
to hold the princes firm in their allegiance to the
Emperor who had condemned him. The papal
representatives wept in mortification to see all
their ])lans of pei*secution thus thwarted, hut
Luther gratefully exclaime<l: ''(Jod has merci-
fully answire<l our poor juayers."

The Elector John the* Steadfast, through
whose unfaltering zeal the renewetl Church had
he<'n so firndy estai»lishe(l upon Saxon territory,
iVu'i\ in the faith, August KUh, LW2, his life's
Work heing well rounde<l out in the achievement
of the long-desin-*! n'ligious peace. Luther we]»t
like u child us he delivered the funeral address,

WAK (LidDs STAVED. 17")

ill wliicli lie attested in ^lowiniz tmiis the Clnis-
ti;iii chiiractcr ;iiul the fuitliful frimdsliij) of ihc
departed prinee. The son, John Frederick,
who succeeded his honored father, had been from
childhood an ardent admirer of the great Re-
former and continued to maintain relations of
the greatest intimacy with him, combined with
almost reverent regard. However storms might
beat without, in his own home-land T.uther was
now, and t<> the end of his days, assured of a sym-
l)athy as cordial as ever existed between a gener-
ous prince and his most honored subject.

riTAPTKI^ X\.

HARMONY AMONG BRETHHEN.

With the year 1532 hej^an for Luther a period
of conijmrative ininuinity from distracting con-
llicts. He was now inahlcd to devote liinisclf
anew to conirrnial literary lal•(.r^^ In lo-'U lie
finished Ins translation of the Bible, including
the Apocrypha, and ]>ultlished the tirst complete
edition. In the following year appeared the
richrst ])rodu(t of his academic Urtures, his large
Commentary upon Galatians, in which lie
develojis with all the ardor of his earlier days
the supreme importance of simj)le faith, and de-
jjicts in glowing terms the atoning work of Christ,
lie found great delight also in prosecuting liis
lectures upon Genesis, i)reached frcipiently in
his own house and in the church, and conducted
a wide an<l constantly growing correspondence.

T«^ the hroadcning intluencc of these devotional
labors is doid)tless to he in large measure attri-
buted the remarkable mildness now disj)laycd
by the Keformer toward those who difTered with
him upon imjxntant points. Nor was this merely
a i)assing mood. During the years now l)cfi»rt'
UH, the desire that all earnest friends of the
(ioH|)el might \tv united in bon«ls of mutfial
confidence liuils frnpn-nt expression in Ids cor-
r(*Hpondence. T<> atl^iin this, he declares tliat he
wouhl gladly lay down his life. Not for the sake
of political advantage does he desire it, but for
the honor of Christ's name an<l the 8]»iritual ad-
vancement of llitt kingdom among men. While
(170)

IIAKMoNV AMnN(; lUlKTIIIlEN. 177

not al):itinu' JV tittle of his own views, lie nut
witli candid cordiality the cfTorts of lUicer and
othei-s to secure harmony ainon<r all who ])ro-
fessed with him the cardinal doctrine of salvation
tlirou«:li faith alone.

A collo(|uy of tlieolojxians, held at Cassel under
tlie leadership of Melanchthon and liueer, pre-
pari'd the way for a fuller conference, whicli was
called hy tlie authority of the Elector John Fre<l-
erick and Philip of Ilcsse, to meet at Eisenach in
May, 1536. As Luther was unahle to leave his
liome at the appointed time, the theoloirians as-
semhled at Wittenberg The timorous Melanch-
thon, who dreaded a fresh outhreak of the earlier
strife, having used every efTort to delay the
assemhlini? of the conference, failed to aj)i>ear at
its ojM'nin^' session. It soon hecamc apj)arent
that a irreat advance had been made l)y the min-
isters of SoutluTU (Germany in the direction of
Luther's views. After a free cxjiression of senti-
ment nj)on the doctrine of the Lord's Supper and
a private consultation of the Wittenberg theo-
lojrians in an adjoinin^^ apartment, Luther, with
l>eamin^' countenance, announced that he and his
associates were prepartd to extendi the hand of
fraternal recognition to all the asseml»l<d
brethren and tliose whom tliey rei)resented. The
declaration was received with tears of joy, with
folded hands, and reverent ejaculations of thanks-
giving to God.

On the following day, no diiliculty was exj)eri-
enced in att;iininL' hariii«>ni<ius eon<'lusions in the
statement of other leading doctrines upon which
opinions had dilTcred. Tiie next day, being the
festival of the Ascension, Luther preached with
more than his usual ])ower fnun tlw great com-
mission of the departing L«»rd to His Church:
12

178 LUTIIEH, THE HEFOUMER.

**Go ye into all the world and preach the Oospcl
to every creature." It was, further, brought to
li^dit that even in Switzerland the extreme views
of ZwinirH had hcen aliandoned hy many, an<l
all aj^n-ed to d(»al kindly and patimtly with any
who mi;:ht still cling to the teaching of their
former leader.

The eelehration of the holy communion with
the Wittenherg conirreL'ation on the Lord's day
was a public confirmation nf the happy con-
clusion of the delil)erati«uis. The use of candles
and clerical robes in the services awakene<l some
anxiety among the delegates from remoter sck^-
tions, hut their fears were allayed when tlu'y were
assured that hut little importance was attached
to these ancient forms and that they were often
dcsigne(lly omitted.

On >h)nday morning a fornnda drawn liy the
hand of Melanchthon was signed by all the par-
ticipants. It was understood, indeed, that the
little company there j)resent could speak only for
themselves, and that their conclusions would he
hinchng upon others only when f(»rmally accepted.
Hut tlie •* Wittenberg Concord," with its cor-
dial endorstiMciit of pulpit and ahar f(ll»>wship,
efTcML'ted a practical union of the evangelical
churches of (iermany, which was maintained
until the outbreak of new controversies after the
<leath of Luther.

The movement thus happily consummated
must be credited, in its inception, to the zeal of
the practical Philip of Hesse and the mediation
of the indefatigable Huccr. Their planning would
have lK»on futile, however, had it not been for the
remarkable persistency of Luther in advocacy
of the conferent-e and his readim-.-s to toKrate the
utmost divergencies of statement which did not

IIAK.MONY AMONd lUnMUKKN. 17*.>

for liiin iu'(.'i'?;sarily involve :i denial of funda-
mental truth. It is a circumstance not to be
overlooked, that the first efTectual summons to
harmony and toleration within the ranks of the
reformed Church went forth from Wittenberg.

(•nAPTi:i: xxi.

rAKi.i:vi.\(; w nn thk rArisxs.

The Peace of Xur(Mnl)iir^ assured iinnuinity
from perseeiition only to those who were already
attached to the cause of the Reformation. As if
in mockery of this fechle attempt to clieck the
risim: tide, the followini: years were marked hy
almost constant defections from the ranks of
the Romanists. Philij) of Hesse found occasion
to snatch Wiirtemher^ from the control of the
Haps))urg8, and at once re-organized its churches
upon evancflioal principles. One after another,
the imi)ortant cities aloni^ the Rhine, includin«^
Au«:sl)ur^', and whole sections of Northern (ler-
many threw off the yoke. The Smalcald Leairue
had become a power to he r(\><pected. Even the
Emperor and the Pope l)e<;an to realize that it
would he impossible to crush this vij^orous move-
ment by force of arms. Events in the political
horizon were constantly reminding; the former
that he mi«;ht at any moment sorely need the
support of a united (Jermany.

W'itliin the same period tlirrc IkhI arisen an
iiillu< ntial party within the Roman Catholic
church which sincerely desired a reform of lla-
granl abuses, and was willing:, to this en<l. to
welcome even the Protestants to a general coun-
cil, in the hope that by duo concessions they
miglit yet l)e induced to acknowledge in some
Fcnse the authority of the Pope. Upon the drath
of Ch-ment VII. in I'M, his successor, Paul III.,
prumiHcd to summon a cnuncil to nnct at Mantua
(ISO)

rAKLKViNc wrm riii: rAi'isi-s. 181

and clispatrhcd a diploiiiiitic messenger to (Jcr-
nuuiy to iiwaken an interest in the project, or at
least i)revent the threatened caHin*^ of an inde-
pendent council of the (Jernian churches. The
legate, Vergerius hy name, exceeded his in-
structions wlieii, led hy curiosity, he visited
Wittenberg and invited Luther and his friend
Ikigenhagen to breakfast with liim. The Re-
former, appreciating the humor of the situation,
had himself smootldy shaven that he might ap-
pear young and vigorous, put on his best clothes,
with a golden chain about his neck, and, to use
his own expression, "])Iayed the genuine Luther"
to the dismay of the disconci-rted dignitary, treat-
ing him with scant courtesy and sliucking his
sense oi j)ropriety by tlie l)oldest self-assertion.
The legate left in indignation, in his report of the
interview denounced Luther as a "beast," but
thirteen years later renounced a lucrative ])osition
and jmblicly adopted the i)rinciples of his un-
manageable guest.

The Poj)e having ])roclainied May 23d, 1537, as
thi! date for a general council, the Elector re-
(juested Lutlier to prepare a statement of the
doctrines which he would maintain at all hazards
before a council or when brought face to face with
death and the throne of judgment, and to j>resent
the same to his foremost associates for their en-
dorsement under the same solemn sanctions. The
result was the document known to history as the
Smalcald Articles. It ])resents the doctrines of
the Augsburg Confession in Luther's own vigor-
ous style, with an additional pungent article
U])on the papacy. It was carrie<l l>y the IClector
to a convt'Ution of the Protestant allies held at
Smalcald in February, l^.'^T, but there was no
occasion for itt> presentation, as the heroic princes

1S2 Ll'TIIEH, Tin: KEKOItMKIl.

at oiu'o (Kvhircd that tlicy would liave nothing to
do with a founcil ])hMl^i'd in advance to the (•t)n-
denination of the truth and so constituted as to
Im) subservient to the will of tlie Pope. The
sijrnificancc of this Smalcald Convention lies
chiclly in the fact that it jircscntrd the lii>t direct
and open defiance of the ])apal authority upon
the j)art of the Protestant Estates,

Luther, who with Mdanclithon and P>iiir<ii]iaL't n
had acconipanicfl the I'^icctor, was taken seriously
sick soon after liis arrival at Smalcald, and it was
thoufjht for a time tliat the attack would certainly
prove fatal. He longed to die upon Saxon soil,
and with many misfrivinfrs the liomeward journey
was undertaken. The mcnd)ers of the conven-
tion feathered about as he was placed in his car-
riage, when, sitting uj), he made the traditional
sign of tlie cross al)ove tlie throng, saying : "The
I^)rd fdl you with His blessing, and with hatriKl
of the Pope."

The aj)|)arent <]isposition upon the part of tlie
Papists to compromise arouse<l all tlie old lire of
the Reformer. He i»ublishcd in rapid succession
a series of pamplilets in vigorous polemic tone,
fnllnwe.l in 1'):;'.) I .v a large work entitled, *' Of
Councils and Churches," in which lie utterly
shattered the claim of infallil»ility made in behalf
<»f the papal councils, and marked out in broad
lines the cliaractcristics of the true Christian
Cliurdi.

While Luther continued thus t<i storm the
tottering fortifications of tin* papacy, the hand of
I*rovidi'nce was w<»rking wondrous transformations
in th«- jiolitieal aspect of the nation. Duke
(leorge, of Ducal Saxony, the bitterest i>ersonal
enemy of Luther an<l his cause, died suddiidy
soon after, follow iiiL' hi'-, two sons to the irrave. and

PAKLKYINC; WITH THK I^ATISI-S. 1S3

his })n)f]u'r Honry at once jxnmtcd to the jjt'oplo
of the nahn the CJosjx'l j)riviU'u«'s lon^j denied
them. :in<l now eagerly welcomed. Branden-
burg, Mecklenberg and distant Denmark had
also become Protestant tcrrit«»ry.

At a convention of the Smalcald League held
at Frankfort in April, 1531), a dele«^ate from the
Emperor gave the assurance that no active meas-
ures would he taken against the Protestants for
the next eighteen months, and that the (Jerman
testates should be i)ermitted, at a convention called
for the purpose, to name a connnittee who should
endeavor, in conjunction with a commission ap-
pointed by the Em})eror, to f(^rmulate a basis of
union between the oj)posing j)arties in Germany.
This was a large concession. It made provision
practically for what the Reformers had long de-
sired— a council of the German Church, with
no reference to the authority of the Pope. The
latter was furious, but the Emperor was in posi-
tion, at that particular juncture, to profit by the
alarm of His Holiness, and hence continued to
encourage the hopes of the Protestants.

After a series of ])reliminary meetings, includ-
ing a four-days' colUxjuy at \\'orms between Mel-
anchthon aad the old arch-enemy of Luther,
Jolm Eck, the Emj)eror at length decided that the
religious (|Uestions should be freely considered at
a regular Diet of the Empire, to be held at Ratis-
bon in the spring <»f \i')i\. He himself a])j>ointed
a commission of three representative men from
each party, Eck, King and (;ru]>per on the on<»
side, and upon the other Melanehthon, Pueer and
Pistorius. The selection indicated a real desire
ujion the part of the Emperor to elTect a reconcili-
ation of the opposing parties, and the attempt
was made under the most favorable circum-

184 LUTIIKH, THK KKKoKMKK.

stances. It is of special interest for us to note that
Luther, wlio wius at tliis time so tolerant toward
variant factions in the Kvan«;elieal party, had no
faith whatever in any favoralde result from these
n«'<r<»tiatinns with the Tapists. While advising his
friends to meet tlie advances of the ICmperor in a
kindly spirit, and always wi-leominf? opj>ortunitit's
to discuss the points at issue, he cahnly warned
his hopeful iussociates that these schemes would
not succeed unless a reconciliation could first be
brought about between Christ and IJelial.

The work of the commission at first proceeded
with astoundinix rapidity. Formulas were
adopted upon tlic subjects of thr oriLMiial state'
of man, freewill, the origin of evil, am! ••liLnnal
sin. Upon tin* vital (juestion of justification by
faith, the Komish theologians yielded the tra-
ditional dcjctrine of their church, and agreed to a
sUitement which might be understood in a strictly
evangelical sense, though leaving some room for an
un<lue e.\altation of man's own works of love.

At tliis sta-ji' of tlir work, its results were sub-
mitted to the Elector John Frederick. His
attention was at once fixed ui)on tlie cumbrous
article upon justification by faith. Too many
words! — sai<l the honest, straightf«)rward man —
and the force of its positive statements neutralized
by the " l)ut " in the last clau.se. He sent it post-
haste to Luther, who fully endorsed the judgment
of his prince. No pat<'hwork for them! Still, the
Reformer, waited upon l>y a special connnittee
sent from Katisbon, ri*sponded in terms so court-
eous that they were almost mistaken for approval,
and advised his own frientls t«» interpose no oIh
Htacle to the work of the commission. Let tluin
go on. The Papists will surrender everything
that concerns merely tlie salvation of souls, but

rAULKYiNt; WITH Tin: rAi»ii>Ts. 185

tlu'v will j^row stuM>nrn when it comos to the dis-
cussinn of the jmpal authority and the idolatntus
massi'S. The j)roi)lu'('y was fully justilitd. Thu
further eolhxjuy served only to l)rin;r out into
the elearer light the irreconcilable differences
hetween the eontendin;^ j)artit'S. Tiie Minju'ror
(h'sired that the artieles U])on which harmony
had heen attained should he adopted by the Diet ;
hut the j)apal party declared that the doctrines
upon which no a])proach to agreement could be
made were the most important, and the Tojk^
sent messa<:es denouncing the concessions already
made. The wIk-Ic attempt was linally al)andoned,
and the Diet sini})ly conlirmed for an indelinite
iK-riod the religious peace granted at Nureml)erg.

The result of these tedious negotiations was
doubtless, upon the whole, favorable to the cause
of the Reformation. They proved that it was
not personal feeling nor mere stubbornness that
actuated the Reformers, but their devotion to a
great jjrinciple, a principle now more clearly
than ever seen to be totally irreconcilable with
the hierarchical system of Rome. They sug-
gested further, only too ])lainly, that were it not
for her lust of power, Rome herself, as repre-
sented by her foremost theologians, would be
almost j)rei)ared to acknowledge that, in the great
doctrinal battle of a (juarter of a century, Luther
hatl already gained the victory.

It remained only for the Rope to rally his
forces, and in a c(»uncil of his own (o]»ened at
Trent, December loth, 15-15) to repair if possil)lo
the l)reaehes made in ihe doctrinal defences of
his own j»arty and set up a new standard with
which to meet the victorious hosts that now
marched with the enthusiasm of deep conviction
beneath the banners of the Augsburg Confession.

CHAITKII XXII

STANDAHI) (»F MOLALITY.

Thk critir?! of Luther wt-rr ii<>t slow to cliarixj*
upon liis doctrine of jiistirKatinii l.y faitli :i t»ii-
(leney to undermine tlie foundations of moral-
ity. His unsparinj: assaults upon the )»(>asted
j^ood works of the Papists seemed to jrive coun-
tenance to the cliarge of comparative indifference
to the outward dej)ortment.

In nieetin<; this ohjection of Ins adversaries,
Luther found liimsclf in tlie very worthy com-
panionship of tlie Apostle Paul, and was as
little disturheil hy it as was the latter. Koth
alike rejected the idea of hasin*? salvation upon
any work of man. lioth ^ave all the glory to the
unmerited grace of (iod extended to all who sin-
cerely depend upon the all-sulHcient sacrifice of
Christ. Only wilful l)lindness could fail to see
that such faith as they advocated nnist hring
forth gof)d works as surely as a good tree will
hear good fruit.

The assertion of one of Luther's former asso-
ciates, Agricola. tliatgood works are not necessary
at all. gi\ing rise to the annoying Antinomian
Controversy, was refuted )»y Luther to the sat-
isfaction of all hut its author ; and tlie history of
the Trotestiint Church is a standing witne.»*s to tlie
truth, that the faith that justifies is a faith that
ah()un<l- also in the work of the Lord.

Tin* personal life of Luther liimself was ahove
re|)roach. lie was ahstemious in his <liet, hahit-
ually »o abhorhcd in his work as to have little re-
(186)

STANDAKl* OK MoHAI.ITV. 187

rranl for tlio |»lcasurt'S of the palatf. Of dissipa-
ti<»n \\v woiil«l, even as a studi'iit, know nothing.
Purity of thoii<:lit and stronj: control of all carnal
j>assions marked his entire career, and lifted him
ahove the aspersions of his bitterest foes in an age
when tlagrant lapses from the ])ath of social recti-
tude were accounted venial olTences.

He was, however, no ascetic. He was con-
stantly assailing the ]»rtvaKiit error of the day,
which mistook a ])routl austerity for virtue, and
k«i»t the consciences of men in bondage by the
minute nciuirements of the code of monastic self-
mortilication. He claimed for himself and others
the right to enjoy the good things of life, and
.-onutimes .shocked the sensibilities of those who
yet clung to the gloomy ideals of the past by the
boldness f>f his language in defence of personal
lilxTty. H we ourselves are startled l)y the refer-
<nces of his biograj>h('rs to the gifts of beer and
wine that were gratefully accepted, we must re-
member that the idea of total abstinence from
intoxicants for the sake of the weak brother was
foreign to that age, and that Luther himself was
most guarded in the use of alcoholic stimulants —
was, in fact, regarded as a model in this resj>ect.

M'ith a clear conscience, therefore, he could lift
uj) his voice in earnest warning to his countrym«n
against the ravages of the •• drink devil," who
notr>riously held the poor (lerniaiis in >U(h abject
Itondage to his dominion. At the time of Ids
death, he had in contem]>lation the ])reparation of
a special treatise upon tin* subject.

His terril»le arraignment of tlic monastic sys-
tem as a nursery of vice is too well known to
n«|uire n)ore than pa.'^sing mention. Already in
l.")'J(), in his Address to the yulnlitif, he demands
action by those in authority for the supprc^^sion of

188 LITIIEK, TlliC UEFOKMER.

licentiousness ; and one of the first fruits »»f tlie
Kt'fornuition in the territory of Saxony was the
closing of (lisreputahlc |ihu('S of resort

In later years, when i)rinees were his friemls,
his re^Mrd for them could not restrain him from
scathing denunciation of the loose morality of
courts. The growing luxury of the commercial
cities, and the rirkless exjKnditures of even the
j>oor peasants, drew from him indignant protests.
The frivolity of tin' rising generati«»n, tiie tendency
to immodesty in (hrss or in deportment, the
koepiiii: of late hours and the frequenting of
public houses, wen- all fre(|Uent suhjects of un-
sparing condemnation from tin- })ulj»it.

The duty of filial obedience learned in his
early home and strictly enforced in his own
household, he maintained with unllinching
fidelity. The duty of a child to its i»arents he
j»laced far ahove any claim which the Church or
society might have upon it. One •►f the most ser-
ious charges which he hrought against the |)apal
church was that it claimed the right, like the
Pharisees of old, to make this commantlment of
Goil of none effect by its traditions. He regarded
his own njonastic vow on this account an impit)us
one, and sought to make some slight anjcnds for
his early filial impiety hy displaying the most
seru)>ulous regard f(»r his father's wishes through-
out the renjaindcr of his life.

The custom of secret espousals recognized
by the jurists of the day upon the basis of the old
canonical laws, aroused Ids indignation. Mere
children were thus pennitted to enter into the
most solemn ccjmpacl of life without the knowl-
e<lg(? of their parenU*. Luther fiercely assailed
the practic*', and from tin- pulpit l)oldly ctiisurtMl
the juri.»ts and the civil authorities for cncourag-

STANDAHD OK MnUAMTY. 189

in«: such violations of the Fourth C'oniniandnitnt.
Thr latter retorted ant^rily, hut finally were eoin-
pelh'd to sueeunih hefore the tremendous moral
eneriiy of the faithful j)astor, and the ahuse was
aholishe<l.

We have seen how Luther, hy teaching: and
(xainple, honored \hv institution of marriage.
It should not surprise us to find his eonreptioii
• •f this Paered relation somewhat limited hy the
earlier distorted ideas in regard to the normal
relation of the sexes. The eonjugal hond was
reirarded too exelusively in its lower, carnal as-
]»eets, or as a matter of social economy, and the
spiritual relationshi]> uj>on which it should he
hased, and which irives to it its highest sanctity,
had not yet come to due reconriiition. This de-
ficiency, so natural in a carnal age and among
men trained under tlie false system of monastic-
ism, hecame painfully manifest in the assent of
the Reformers to the bigamous marriage of
Philip of Hesse. The latter, having found the
com]>anion of Ids youth uncongenial, proposed,
with her cons<'nt, to wed anctther, and inquired
of Luther and his associates whether the Ciospel
forhids polygamy. They re])lied that sucli a
practice is contrary to the general divine order
and sure to W(^rk incalculahle injury; hut they
cr)uld lind no ex])ress scriptural prohihition.
Tiny inferred from its i)ermission in the lives of
the early patriarchs that it might he allowahle in
exceptional cases. I'hilip naturally inferred that
his own ca.'ic fell under the latter category, and
the ceremony was ]M'rformed in the ])resencc of
Melanchthon. It must he acknowledged that, in
this single instance, the judgment of the Ke-
formers was inferior to that of the ]»rinces and
simple laity and to the ]>««-iti'>?i of the Roman

190 LUTHEH, TlIK KKKOUMKU.

Ca^liolic churcli. They f< 11 int<» the error l»y
failinj; to note tlie iinj)erf((tion in the moral en-
li^'htennient of (ijxl's |)e«)ple in tlie early ages and
through their own iniperfeet eoneei)tion of the
liigh moral unity involved in the marriage rela-
tionship. Th«' unfortunate afTair brought per-
plexity and shame upon all connected with it,
and, as Thilij) was the leader of the Smalcald
League, it cast dis(r«'<lit upon the entire cause of
the Protestants. Mclanclithon's distress on ac-
count of it very nearly co.st him his life. Lutlier
afterwards saw his error, but found consolation in
the fact that lie had acted conscientiously.

In estimating the zeal of the Reformer for i)rac-
tical morality, we must remember that it was
not his chief providential mission to rebuke
the o])en vici'S of his day, but rather to uncover
the hidden wickedness that lurked beneath the
boasted superior holiness of the }>rofessed teachers
of morality ami religion. It was only when this,
his peculiar work, had been alm<>st accomjdisluMl,
and his eniTgies concentratetl more and more upon
his own more immediate surroundings, that he
came into really close contact with the vices of the
rude multitude. His cjistigations of these ofTenses
among his own i)eoj)le was then fully as unsparing
as had Ix-en his <lenunciation of his bitterest
enemies. Nor was his vehemence in vain. The
authorities of the city and Tniversity adopte<l
more stringent measures for thi' restraint of dissi-
pation. Thus, thrnugh all the yeai*s of conllict
with ini«|uity, whether found lurking in the dark
or parading in the light of day, this Man of Faitli
was continually l>y his intense moral earni'stness
overthrowing the works of the devil.

CHAPTKR XXIII.

IIOMK LIKE.

No portraituro of Lutlier can l»o com])l(t(' wliich
docs not Itrinir distinctly into view tlic husband
and father, tindin<^ daily rcfrcslnncnt in the circle
of loved ones in his humble hut always hospitable
home. The monastery in which his active career
had been be<run remained his j)lace of residence,
and became his i)ersonal property by pft of the
Elector John shortly before the hitter's death.
Its construction accordinj^ to the ori<,nnal plan had
never been com])leted, and extensive ro])airs were
frecjuently nccessar}'. Yet it was commodious, and
connwtcd with it was an excellent garden. T«)
its bare walls we have seen Luther lead his brave-
hearted Katie, but, by the blessing of God, the
dark spectre of want was ere long banished. The
annual salary from the electoral treasury was from
time to time increased, and gifts from various
sources added to the cipiipment of the home.
Additional land was bought immediately adjoin-
ing and in the neighboring village of Zulsdorf.
Luther himself estimated the value of his estate
shortly before his death at al^out 1(),U(KJ ll«»rins,
his income from other sources being at the time
40() florins. He might, as his wife was accus-
tomed to lament, have been (piite rich had he
been like other men; but he always refused to
accept any m<»ney for his books, although others
m.idr fnitunes liv the sale of them. His free-
handed generosity was known far and wide, an<l
not seldom abused. Judged bv ordinary stand-
(V.)\)

l'^2 LITHKH, THK KKKOKMEU.

nrds, his donations t<> tlio needy wen- far ])eyoiul
liis ability. To the protests of his fnipd wife he
was areiistonied to replv : " W'c liave a rich
Father."

To his own household he weleomed an aunt
of his wife, Bcveral children of a deceased sister
named KaiifTman, at onetime four orphans whose
parents had died durinj: a siepe of j)estilence,
tutors of his ^n-owin.L' children, students at the
Tniversity, and tlie fu^dtive wife of the Elector of
Jkandenl)urfr. His friends often made lontr visits,
jiassin^ strangers were always cordially welcome<l,
escaj)ed monks and nuns found a comfortahle
refuge until homes or employment could he
secured for them, and there were frequt^nt celebra-
tions of fannly birthdays and sindlar occasions of
festivity.

The lunden of all this hospitality fell U])on the
faithful Katie, whose tireless enerpy and wise
econ<nny alone could save the household from
bankruj)tcy. She found especial deli}_dit in her
"kinplom," as Luther ])layfully called it, at
Zulsdorf, witli its cattle, poultry and croj)s ; while
Luther himself was content to amuse himself in
the nu)nasterv jjarden, <rraftini; the trees and
watching the birds. They both enjoyed hshing
in a litth' ])ond near the monastery. lb* himself
bore loving testimony to lier lidehty in minist»'r-
ing to all his wants, and his cordial lettei-s, written
to her whenevtT duty called him from his hom<*,
give al)undant <'vidence at onc<' of Ins genuine re-
spect for her charactiT and liis sincere alTection.

Six children were borne to them, of whom
Elizabeth died in infancy and ^bigdalena at the age
of thirti-en. The father was in each case heart-
broken. Tbe scene at the dcath-bcd of Mag-
dalcna wa.s dee]»ly touching. Lending tindt riy

HoMK I.IFK. 193

over luT couch, the man before wlioin princes
• jiuiilcd hinisclf trembled like a leaf. '' Lena,
dear," he said, "you would like to stay with
your father here, and yi-t you will ^dadly «x<> to
your Father in heaven." " Yes, dearest fatlier,"
she replied, "just as (iod wills." ^Vith stream-
ing; tears he then prayed for her release from pain
and weakness, and, as she breathed her last,
turned to comfort the weeping family. " I liave
^'iven heaven a saint," he exclaimed. " O, that
we mi^zht die thus ! Such a death I should wel-
come this very hour." No other event in his
life so (lc<'})ly moved him. He sou^'ht to allay
his j^rief by reliecting upon her happy state, but
there were times when his tears could be stayi'd
only by his swelling indignation at the ravages of
death, and of him that hath the power of death,
the devil. Thus even sorrow could but stimulate
to more earnest warfare against the ])rince of evil.

Tlie daily intercourse of the Reformer with
his children was unrestrained and cordial, lie
dilighted in watching their innocent ]»ranks,
rompcfl with them, t(jl(l them wondf.'rful tales
emi)ellished by the rich hues of his ever-vivid im-
agination, and in every way sought to make their
early years as bright as his own had been stern
and cheerless. He taught them faithfully from
tile liibleand the catechism, and encouraged them
in the cultivation of whatever musical talent they
j)ossessed, his own lute and clear tenor voice
always leading in the family chorus.

The inlluence of the peaceful evening hours
thus Kj)ent in njaintaining the joyous, hopeful
spirit of the great witness for the truth, who
found in the world without little but corruption
and strife, can scarcely be overestimate*!. Luther
as a lonely monk would have been crusiied with
18

VJi LITHKH, THK HKFOIJMKK.

discourajjomcnt beneath the burdens wliich Luther
as thr hajipy head of a Christian home carri«Kl so
liplitly. Here he was kept in touch with what is
])uri'st and best in liuman life. Here his hinder
heart found sympathy and poured out in return
more than it received. Here, as in a Httle world,
he studied human nature and learned to speak
words of comfort and clieer that echoed in many
other homes when clouds of sorrow lowered.

Here, too, was manifested most clearly the sin-
cere, child-like piety of the man. Merrily and
unreproved miglit pass the jest and sonp from lij)
to lij), but the Unseen Presence was never for-
gotten in that home. The most trifling,' incidents
were made to teach lessons of reverence and trust.
The Scriptures were quoted naturally and aptly as
illustratinjx all manner of j)assin^ thenn^. Kvery
eveninj^ closed with j)rayer, and at nine o'clock,
however popes and emperors mi.^ht ra<:e without,
the sentiment of David found literal fultilment in
the experience of this royal servant of Daviil's
Lord: "I will both lay me down in peace an<l
sleep; for thou, Lord, onlv makest me dwell in
safety.*'

The results of this home training, as seen in
the lives of Luther's < hildrrn, wen- not disappoint-
ing. None of them wius endowe<l with extraor-
dinary talent. John became a lawyer, meeting'
with a fair measure of success in his callinir.
Martin studied for the ministry, but never assumed
its active responsibilities, dying at the age of
tliirty-three years. Paul ln'i-ame a physician of
considerai)le not<', filling j)ositions of trust at sev-
cnd courts. Margaret was married to a Prussian
no!)leman, Von Kuidieim. They all !)ore excel-
lent reputations, and lived as worthy members of
tb" <1iurch, enjoyini' ;ind i»<'t il.n-iiP' \]m> lilurty

IIOMK I. IKK. 195

of conscience won for thoni, as for many millions,
hy the dauntless eoura«;e of their revered father.

Nor should we fail to thank (Jod ft)r the exam-
ple of that Christian home. It was a city set
ui>«.n a hill, whose li;;lit slione far and wide, dis-
I.ellin(]j clouds of error which had darkened thX3
nations for centuries. It did more i)erhai)s than
even Luther's ponderous words to crush out the
"doctrine of devils" which dared to cast dis-
honor ui)on tliat state which (lod had distinctly
pronounced holy. It encouraged thousands of
j)riests to estahlish family altars, and emancipated
multitudes from the stilling' moral atmos])here of
convents. It pive hack in the Church, instead of
the prying j)riest, the sympathizing friend and
pastor. L<3fty indeed was the vocation of the
man, who not only j)ointed the way to a heavenly
home, hut whose intluence was destined to dot the
sinful earth with domestic temples resounding
through the ages with carols of peace and anthems
of praise.

CHAPTER XXIV.

SICKNESS AND DEATH.

'I'liE lIcTriilcan tasks aoconiplisliod by T.utlicr
un<l(T nianifoM distractions aiul uikKt burdens of
rcHponsihility such as had rested upon no other
champion of the truth since the days of the
apostles, imply the ])ossession of a bodily constitu-
tion naturally vigorous. He could scarcely,
however, have Ixen pronounced at any stajze of
his career a healthy man. The excessive rigor of
his monastic days had told upon him. His
pale face and ha*z<:ard frame were a subject
of comment when he stood before the Diet at
Worms. The seasons of deep spiritual struggle
through which he jKissed at intervals had j>n)bably
some c(mnection with incipient physical disorder.
We recall the helpless condition which so often
interrupted his labors at Coburg in lo.'U). From
that date onward his bodily ailments increased,
and he was coinjK'llcd t<» (•••ndition all liis engage-
ments for travel or literary labors uj»on the state
of his health. Again and again, at important
junctures — while in the pulpit, upon his journeys,
or engaged in negotiations witli representatives
from distiuit churclies — he wjis suddenly overcome
with intense pain «»r dizziness. Several times he
appeared to be at the ]>oint of death, and bade
solemn farewi 11 to bis family an<l assix iates. I>ur-
ing the last twenty years of his life theshadi»ws
of the apjiroaching en«l were seldom lifted. To
liis friends he habitually s|>oke of hiniself as an
oM an<l worn-out man, and often sighctl for de-
livrniiiri fn.iii an <vil world.

(190)

SICKNESS AM) DKATII. 1!>7

Yet of tliis no trace is to he found in the cliar-
acttT of liis polemical or devotional writings.
AVhcn he «rras])rd his ])vn for ])ractical work, he
was ever the same Luther still. His hand wa.s
steady, and liis t^itat soul poured itself out in
clear analysis, in terrihle invective, or in the joy-
ous utterances of a triumphant faith. His hody
was but a feeble instrument, (juite for<^otten when
the glowin<^ sj)irit rose to deal with the great
themes of salvation and eternal life. His latest
writings are in eviTV respect as vigorous as any
which })rcceded them.

The clear conviction that the hour of his de-
j)arture was rapidly a|))>roaching had, however, a
marked influence upon his disposition toward
those whose views differed in some respects
irom his own, but who yet accepted the funda-
mental doctrines of liuman helplessness and divine
grace. With the Roman Catholic Church he had
no longer the faintest desire of reconeilation. He
recognized more clearly than any other in that age
tlie imj)assable chasm that separated him from
the ])apal fold. It was not only the glaring
abuses of that Church against which he i)rotested,
but the entire conception upon which it was based
he regarded as the j)roduct of impious deception
and human pride. In his dying hours he beggeil
his friends to pray the Lord to i)rotect His Church
against the mad assaults of the Poj)e and his
<ounselors then assembled in the Council at
Trent. JUit, from the time when the truth had
been so boldly confessed at Augsliurg and com-
j>romisc with extreme error reje<ted at Marburg,
the desire for harmony with all who held the
essential truths of the (iospel grew constantly
stronger, until it became the passion of his soul.
He longed to sec the emancipated hosts of

198 LUTHER, TIIK REFORMER.

Chrises truo followers hound in loving fellowship
hefore his eyes should elose in death. Tiiis in-
ward yearning in tlie mighty soul in which the
Kefonnation itself had its hirth found concrete
expression in the " Wittenherg Concord," which
remains for all time a monumental witness to the
hroad spirit of hrothcrly love which lay heneath
the often stern exterior of the great Reformer.

Ill the closing years of his life, however, the
old spirit of distrust was re-awakened. Inci-
dental references in his writings of the years
looD— 11 to the tlieory of Zwingli, whose views he
regarded as ahandoned by all hut a few of the
latter's inunediate followers, aroused angry j)ro-
tcsts in Switzerland. The discussion which fol-
lowed developed the fact that some German th»-o-
logians still inclined more to the views of Zwingli
than to his own. It was whispered that some of
his intimate a.'^sociatc^, notably Melanchthon,
were no longer sound u]>on the doctrine of the
Ixjrd's Suj)per. When the custom (»f elevating
the host was (juietly discontinued in the ^^'itten-
burg church, the re]>ort was circulated that even
Luther himself had abandoned the d(K'trine of
the bodily presence of (^irist in the sacrament.
This was too much for the brave, bold man.
His charity was being misinterpri'ted. The ]>eac»'
which he had ailvocated seemed, after all, to
be basecl ujton hy])ocrisy. His own testimony
wa.s being beclouded. He shuddi-red to think
that death might overtake him while apparently
blindly loitering in the camp of the enemy. It
must not l>e. With terrific energy lie hurled
new thunderbolts to right and left, regardless of
resulting ali. nations. He rejected all overtures of
j)eace, and njoiced tlie more, the more l»itterly he
was denounccHl by the '*Sacramentariaii.s." He

SICKNESS AND DEATH. 199

wanted all the world t<» know that tlicst* rationalistic
interpretiTs were his foes, and to this end s«tu.L'ht to
arouse tlicir animosity to the hii^hcst ])it(h l)y
statinir his own ])ositions in the hoMcst and most
offensive terms |)ossihU'. The lon<z;in<; to dej)art in
peace was now supplanted hy the passionate de-
termination to die in armor, wavinj^ his gleani-
inf; sword in defence of tlie whole truth as God
had <riven him to see it. IIow lar<r<'ly this change
of attitude was justified by the real situation is a
])oint upon which historians have differed; hut it
would certainly he an occasion for lament if the
tone of these lati' passionate utterances were to be
adopted as the normal tone of theological discus-
sion in times of peace. It is suflicient for us to
see in them the Reformer's dying plea for sincer-
ity and openness in the expression of religious
convictions.

The closing scene of this dramatic life is hap-
pily one of reconciliation. Serious alienations had
for some time ])revailed in the mutual relations of
the Counts of Mansfcld, Luther's early home-land.
It was finally agreed to submit the matters in dis-
pute to his decision. Despite his weakness, the
extreme cold, and the j)rotests of his friends, he
gladly undertook the mission, leaving his home
with his three sons and other mend)ers of his
household January 23d, ir)40. Floods in the
Saab' — a great Anabajjtist, Luther called it — de-
layed them for som(? days in Halle, where be
preached a vigorous sermon against pajml
abuses. A violent attack of sickness upon the
journey be attributed to tlu; devil, wlio, he de-
clare<l, always assailed him when he had any
great work on band. At Eisleben, where tin*
negf>tiations were con<lucted, be preached four
sermons, the hist on February 15tb, an<l also or-

200 LrTIIEH, TIIK KKFORMEU.

(lained two yoiin;: men to tin' (iospel ministry.
Twice he i)artook of tlic Lord's Sujiper. He
maintained an almost continuous eorrespondenee
in liis most genial style with his wife and his
bosom-friend Mehinclithon, and enhvened the ser-
ious hibors of his errand by frecjuent salUes of his
unfaihn<x humor. lie found an intensely embit-
tered feeling between the j)arties at strife, which
had been greatly aggravated by the interventiun
of otliers. Trayerful earnestness and jnitience
U])on his jtart, and the boundless regani of all fnr
his eharaeter and Cdunsel, at length elTected a com-
plete reconciliation.

Luther, feeling indisposed, wa.s excused from
attendance at the linal meeting on the 17th, in
which the details of the agreement were arranged
in legal form, and remained in his room during
the morning. lie was present at the evening
meal, leading the conversation as usual, int< r-
mingling serious themes with sallies of j)layful
humor. At eight o'clock he withdrew to his
room, and spent some time standing before the
window engaged in audible prayer. He then re-
joined thecomj)any, and sj)ent an hour with them
in j)leasant sociability. During the night his con-
dition became serious, and frientis and neighbors
were called to his side. His last connected
words were: "Father, into thy hands 1 mm-
mend my snirit. Thou hast redeemed me, Thou
faithful Clod." As his bodily senses were raj)idly
failing, one of the company called loudly to him:
•'Reverend Father, do you still hold linnly to
Christ and the doctrine which you have preached?''
to which he replied distinctly: *'Yes," — then
turned upon his side ami pjacefully expired.

As the tearful funeral procession movecl out
of the village, the rc« oucilcd C'ounl."^ of Mansf«M

SICKNESS AND DEATH. 201

rodr ill ;i<lvaiice, a puMic testimony tliat the last
triumph of tlie Hero of tlu- Reformation was a
triumph of peace. Dyinj; in tlie i)lace ui liis birth,
liis remains were fitly borne to the scene of his
hibors and solemnly interred within the walls of
the Castle-church, upon whose doors he had nailed
his great proclamation of the Church's emaiKij)a-
tion. His toil was ended, but his life's work was
but be«run. The j)rinciples which he jtroclaimed
have directed the course of modern proirress, and
so long as the world loves liberty, or the Church
rejoices in the doctrine of free j^^ace, can neither
fail to cherish the memory of Luther, the Reformer.

End.

Date Due

9

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